Paris Olympics Gender Row: Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif Files Lawsuit, Names Two Prominent Persons

New Delhi: As the Paris Games 2024 concluded, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif decided to file a lawsuit over the gender row during the Olympic Games, while also naming Tesla owner Elon Musk and famous British author JK Rowling in it.

Khelif’s lawyer has said that JK Rowling and Elon Musk are among those listed in the sportsperson’s legal complaint over online harassment, NDTV reported.

Khelif clinched the top podium spot in the women’s welterweight tournament in Paris, becoming Algeria’s first woman boxer to win a gold medal at the Olympics. However, echoes of her disqualification by the International Boxing Association (IBA) from the women’s World Championships after allegedly failing a gender eligibility test kept intensifying the entire Paris Games.

On Friday, Khelif filed a complaint with a special unit in the Paris prosecutor’s office for combating online hate that she received during the Olympic Games. Her lawyer Nabil Boudi described the campaign against the boxer, as “misogynist, racist and sexist”.

Boudi informed American publication Variety: “JK Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others. Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution.”

While certain names have been put in the complaint, more people could be added if the case goes to court. “What we’re asking is that the prosecution investigates not only these people but whoever it feels necessary. If the case goes to court, they will stand trial.”

Both Musk and Rowling referred to Khelif as a “male”, with the British author saying Khelif was “enjoying the distress of a woman” after the Algerican boxer’s win against Italy’s Angela Carini.