“Please don’t use me for political purposes,” Imane Kerif, who won a boxing gold medal at the 2024 Olympics, said before her gender test.
Published February 5, 2026
Algerian boxer Imane Kherif said she intends to comply with genetic testing requirements to participate in competitions, as long as the tests are carried out by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Kerif won gold in the women’s welterweight division at the Paris 2024 Games amid a gender controversy over eligibility after the International Boxing Association disqualified her from the 2023 World Championships based on sex chromosome testing.
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With provisional approval from the IOC, World Boxing, which oversees the boxing competition at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, announced in May that it would require gender testing for all boxers participating in the competition. Kerif, who has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against World Boxing’s decision to bar her from participating in events unless she undergoes a genetic sex test, said she would only take the test if the IOC conducts it.
“Of course, I will accept whatever is asked of me to participate in the competition,” Kerif told CNN.
“Women should be protected, but we have to be careful that while protecting women we shouldn’t hurt other women.”
“I’m not transgender. I’m a woman. I want to live my life. Please don’t use me for political purposes.”
The 26-year-old said she hoped she would get justice from CAS.
“I will not surrender until I get justice, because I know that justice is on my side above all else,” she said.
