Imane Khelif left rival thanking GOD for escaping horrific injuries in 2022 fight - with 'biological male' now sparking huge Olympics gender row

Imane Khelif near a rival combatant thanking deity for avoiding superior wounded aft facing her successful 2022 - astir 2 years earlier sparking a gender statement astatine nan Paris Olympic Games. 

Khelif hit Italy's Angela Carini connected Thursday - she discontinue 46 seconds into nan conflict aft getting caught connected nan nose successful nan early exchanges. She was successful tears aft nan fight, saying she withdrew for her ain information and that she had ne'er been deed truthful difficult before.

And she isn't nan only jock to make specified remarks aft coming up against Khelif.

In December 2022, Khelif hit Brianda Tamara successful Guadalajara, Mexico pinch specified force, Tamara couldn't judge that she had escaped a superior injury.

Months later, successful March 2023, Khelif was disqualified earlier nan last of nan IBA Women's World Boxing Championships owed to nan levels of testosterone successful her system, prompting Tamara to speak out.

She wrote connected X astatine nan time: 'When I fought pinch her (Khelif) I felt very retired of my depth, her blows wounded maine a lot.

'I don't deliberation I had ever felt for illustration that successful my 13 years arsenic a boxer, nor successful my sparring pinch men. 

'Thank God that time I sewage retired of nan ringing safely, and it's bully that they yet realized.'

A station uploaded onto Tamara's Instagram relationship only 2 days agone shows her look trim and bruised pinch a caption explaining that it was from aft nan Khelif fight. 

On Thursday, arsenic Khelif's conflict pinch Carini threatened to overshadow nan Paris Games truthful far, Tamara replied to Claressa Shields, an American female boxer, connected X saying group sent her decease threats aft her comments astir fighting Khelif.

Shields wrote: 'I’m taking a stand! Women should conflict against women, men conflict against men and transgenders conflict against transgenders! This is ridiculous and I’m heartbroken for nan women boxers astatine nan Olympics!'

Tamara wrote back: 'But they wished maine decease erstwhile I conscionable reacted.'

Khelif herself railed against her 2023 disqualification, saying astatine nan time: 'There are immoderate countries that did not want Algeria to triumph a golden medal. 

'This is simply a conspiracy, a large conspiracy, and we will not beryllium silent astir it.'

Genetic tests that were reportedly taken successful 2023 person shown that nan 25-year-old Khelif has antheral XY chromosomes successful her DNA. But she is not transgender.

There person been akin debates successful athletics before, pinch South African runner and two-time 800m Olympic golden badge victor Caster Semenya besides having XY chromosomes successful her DNA. The arguments here, however, are acold much aggravated fixed nan physicality of boxing.

Khelif, who was beaten astatine nan quarterfinal shape of nan Tokyo Olympics, fights adjacent connected Saturday against Hungary's Anna Luca Hamori - who says she is not concerned.

'I'm not scared,' Hamori told reporters. 'I don't attraction astir nan property communicative and societal media. If she aliases he is simply a man, it will beryllium a bigger triumph for maine if I win.

'I'm trying to not usage my telephone earlier nan fight. I don't want to attraction astir nan comments aliases nan communicative aliases nan news. 

'I conscionable want to enactment focused connected myself. I did it earlier my past 2 fights, truthful I deliberation this is nan key, and we will see.'