Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, victim of a hate campaign during the 2024 Olympics, opened up about the lasting impact of this painful episode.

Just a fistfight. Directly accused by Donald Trump of not being a woman during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, boxer Imane Khelif kept her head down. Today, the Algerian speaks at length to L'Equipe about the attacks she has endured.

“I love boxing, but everything surrounding it is politics. It’s beyond me,” confides the Olympic champion. “I was an unknown, everything was fine, normal. When the drama started, I wasn’t aware of it, but I felt that the athletes I passed were starting to look at me.”

“I respect everyone, and I respect Trump. Because he is the president of the United States. But he cannot distort the truth. I am not trans, I am a girl,” she insists.

"My difference is natural."

Twenty-five years old in the summer of 2024, Imane Khelif saw her life completely turned upside down. “I had my dreams, my goals, my personal life. What happened to me was too much to bear. What hurt me the most was that I have a family: my mother, my father, my younger sisters, my younger brothers… This controversy had a huge impact on my life.” The boxer consulted psychologists for over a year, as did her mother and younger sister.

“We all have different genetics, different hormone levels,” she argues. “I’m not a transsexual. My difference is natural. I am the way I am. I haven’t done anything to change the way nature made me.”

She admits to having considered quitting boxing, but she remains determined to defend her title in 2028. "If I have to take a [gender] test, I'll submit to it. I have no problem with that," she asserts. In Los Angeles, she could "become the first person in Algerian sport to retain her Olympic title." Right under Donald Trump's nose, no less.