Irish Boxing Champion Who Beat Algerian Fighter In Olympic Gender Controversy Weighs In On Drama

Boxing world champion Amy Broadhurst was among the women to beat Algerian Imane Khelif, the fighter in the middle of a gender controversy at the Paris Olympics, and spoke out about her former opponent on Wednesday.

Broadhurst, of Ireland, was a gold medalist in the 2022 International Boxing Association (IBA) Women’s World Championships, beating Khelif in the finals. Khelif was then disqualified from the 2023 tournament for what the IBA president said at the time was that it was "proved" Khelif had "XY chromosomes."

<strong>Gold medalist Amy Broadhurst of Team Northern Ireland celebrates during the Women's Boxing Over 57kg-60kg (Lightweight) medal ceremony on day 10 of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at NEC Arena on Aug. 7, 2022 in Birmingham, England. (Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)</strong>

The IBA said Wednesday that Khelif had "competitive advantages over other female competitors."

Broadhurst also weighed in.

"Have a lot of people texting me over Imane Khelif," she wrote in a post on X. "Personally I don’t think she has done anything to ‘cheat.’ 

"I (think) it’s the way she was born & that’s out of her control. The fact that she has been beating by 9 females before says it all."

<strong>Algeria's Imane Khelif leaves after her women's 66kg preliminaries round of 16 boxing match against Italy's Angela Carini during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena, in Villepinte on Aug. 1, 2024. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)</strong>

On Thursday, Broadhurst asked her followers what they thought of her win over Khelif in 2022. Broadhurst posted the footage on her social media.

"If this is a man and it becomes 100% fact, I’ll be disgusted that I was in the ring and so was many others," Broadhurst wrote in response to one comment. "A man vs a woman is far from ok. But right now nobody knows what the true facts are."

<strong>Amy Broadhurst, left, of Team Northern Ireland competes against Gemma Paige Richardson of Team England during the Women's Boxing Over 57kg-60kg (Lightweight) Gold Medal Bout on day ten of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at NEC Arena on Aug. 7, 2022 in Birmingham, England. (Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)</strong>

The International Olympic Committee cleared Khelif to compete and doubled down on its decision after Khelif’s win.