Olympic champion Imane Khelif has appealed World Boxing’s mandatory gender testing requirement at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, seeking clearance to compete in the 2025 World Championships.
Olympic champion Imane Khelif is challenging World Boxing’s decision to mandate gender testing as a condition for competing in international tournaments.
In May, World Boxing announced that Khelif, 26, would be banned from its competitions until she underwent the test, a move that followed controversy surrounding her gold medal victory at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed that Khelif filed an appeal on August 5, seeking to overturn the testing requirement and secure her eligibility for the 2025 World Boxing Championships, scheduled for September 4–14 in Liverpool.
CAS said it dismissed a request to suspend World Boxing’s ruling pending the full hearing.
Khelif was one of two athletes at the Paris Games whose gender eligibility drew global debate, alongside Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who has registered for the upcoming world championships.
Khelif’s Olympic bouts, particularly her opener against Italy’s Angela Carini, drew commentary from public figures including U.S. Vice President JD Vance and author J.K. Rowling.
Khelif, who previously competed internationally without controversy, denied retirement rumors last month, accusing her former manager Nasser Yesfah of spreading “false and malicious statements.”