Monday, September 9, 2024 - Algerian female boxer, Imane Khelif has taken aim at Elon Musk for ‘leading a cruel campaign’ against her during this summer's Olympics.
Imane , who was competing in the women's welterweight
category, claimed a gold medal in Paris despite the controversy surrounding her
gender that dominated headlines throughout the Games.
Khelif was cleared to compete at the Olympics just one year
after being thrown out of the World Boxing Championships for allegedly failing
tests which proved she has male 'XY' chromosomes, a decision which sparked
outrage across the globe.
Despite being born a female, Khelif was subjected to
accusations and abuse from many people including Elon Musk and Donald Trump
during the Olympics.
The X billionaire, who along with Donald Trump has
reportedly been named in a cyberbullying lawsuit filed by Khelif, quoted a post
on his platform which called for men to be thrown out of women's sports in
light of her round of 16 victory over Italy's Angela Carini.
In an interview on French TV show CLIQUE, Khelif fought
back the tears after being asked about Musk inviting further abuse with his
post about her on X.
'Elon Musk was one of the first to attack me during this
hate campaign,' she said. 'He posted this video and it was retweeted. So, he
was one of the first to have spread this buzz, this campaign against me.
'I would say... you hate me but you don't even know me. I
don't even know why you led this attack. You have been cruel to me, cruel to my
family, to my mother.
'At that time, my mother was going to hospital every day.'
Khelif added: 'So I don't understand the behavior of
people today. God is my guide, I am a practicing Muslim woman. I am a Muslim
Arabic woman and I got through this moment.
'I hope I will be even stronger in the future and come back
even more motivated.'
She has since filed a cyberbullying lawsuit in France which
also apparently names JK Rowling as well as Musk and Trump. And she didn't
spare the latter from her anger in an interview in Algeria with El Birad.
'Immediately after there was a lot of noise from
politicians, athletes, stars, artists — Elon Musk and Donald Trump and that
hurt me a lot, I cannot describe how scared I was,' the 25-year-old said.
'This affected me. I'm not lying to you, it affected me a
lot. It hurt a lot. I can't describe the fear I had but thank God I was able to
overcome it. Thank god, all the people of Algeria and the Arab world knew
Imane Khelif with her femininity, her courage, her will.'
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