Tennis legend Martina Navratilova needed only one acronym in response to Olympic boxing gold medalist Imane Khelif receiving votes for the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award.
Khelif was in the middle of a storm during the Olympics after it emerged that the Algerian wrestler failed a gender test in the run-up to the Paris Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) maintained that Khelif met all the requirements to compete and ultimately won the gold medal.
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Imane Khelif competes against Anna Luca Hamori during the Paris Olympic Games in Villepinte, France, on August 3, 2024. (Mehmet Murat Onel/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Khelif finished third in the voting, receiving four votes. Caitlin Clark won the award and Simone Biles came in second.
Navratilova, who has been a strong advocate for protecting women’s sports, reacted in a post on X.
“That?” she wrote, meaning “what the real fuck.”
Khelif qualified for the Paris Olympics, but her gender was questioned following a disqualification from the 2023 championships before a gold medal bout over gender eligibility issues.
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International Boxing Association president Umar Kremlev said the boxer had “XY chromosomes,” which are associated with biological males.
Imane Khelif of Algeria looks at Angela Carini of Italy after their boxing match at the Summer Olympics on Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
One boxer, Angela Carini, lost her fight against Khelif in Paris, saying that “one punch hurt too much.”
Khelif won gold in Paris and was not the only boxer to win a women’s gold who has been disqualified for failing gender eligibility tests. Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting also won gold in another women’s weight class in Paris, sparking similar outrage.
The IOC defended the inclusion of Khelif and Yu-ting in the women’s events.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova presenting trophies at the French Open at Roland Garros on June 8, 2024 in Paris. (Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
Khelif was the most Googled athlete of the year, largely due to the controversy.
