Imane Khelif, one of two female boxers allowed to compete at the Olympics after being disqualified by the IBA, is going incredibly viral over her new look this week.
The Olympic champion has been celebrating her gold medal victory in Paris and decided to step it up a notch when she unveiled a new look.
Despite the controversy surrounding her gender, the Algerian boxer remained focused, securing gold for her country in Paris. Later, she showcased her achievement with a fresh makeover.
In an Instagram video, Imane Khelif is first seen throwing punches at the camera with boxing gloves on before the scene cuts to her dressed in a pink floral outfit, complete with matching hoop earrings, pink eyeliner, and lip gloss.
Despite her new look, social media was still unwilling to let go of the narrative that she was actually a transgender male:
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Tough crowd.
Khelif gave an exclusive interview to the Algerian-based news channel EL BIRAD and spoke about the amount of hate she has suffered since her first appearance at the Olympics.
“There was a lot of uproar from big politicians around the world, athletes around the world, and even artists and stars like Elon Musk and Trump, which affected me. I’m not lying to you, it got to me. It affected me a lot, it hurt me a lot. I can’t describe the fear I had,” she said in the interview.
Imane Khelif stated that a situation like this can “destroy” a person and admits that she had to turn to specialists for help.
The controversy erupted with the fight against Italian boxer Angela Carini, who quit the bout after 46 seconds after taking just two punches to the face.
Olympic Boxer Imane Khelif Files Cyberbullying Lawsuit
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, Olympic champion in women’s boxing, is done playing nice with people who are being mean to her.
French prosecutors opened an investigation into an online harassment complaint made by Khelif after an onslaught of criticism and false claims about her sex during the Summer Games, per Yahoo.com.
The athlete’s lawyer, Nabil Boudi, filed a legal complaint with a special unit in the Paris prosecutor’s office that combats online hate speech. Donald Trump is one of the names in the cyber-bullying lawsuit.
