Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif has broken her silence with a defiant Instagram post following new measures announced to protect women's sports categories.
The 26-year-old Algerian, who faced gender eligibility controversy during her Paris 2024 gold medal triumph, shared a message commonly attributed to Winston Churchill on her Instagram Stories.
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts," Khelif wrote alongside a selfie.
Her post came days after new International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry announced plans for a working group to safeguard the female category in Olympic sports.
Imane Khelif took to her Instagram story to break her silence on the issue
The timing appears significant, with Coventry confirming Khelif will retain her medal despite ongoing disputes.
Coventry, speaking in her first major address as IOC president, said there was "overwhelming support" for protecting the female category in Olympic competition.
"We understand that there'll be differences depending on the sport but it was very clear from the members that we have to protect the female category, first and foremost to ensure fairness," Coventry stated during a livestreamed meeting.
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Kirsty Coventry said there was "overwhelming support" for protecting the female category in Olympic competition.
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She confirmed the IOC would not take retrospective action on past results: "We are not going to be doing anything retrospectively. We are going to be looking forward."
The new president announced plans for an expert working group comprising specialists and international federations to address the issue.
Khelif became a national hero in Algeria after claiming gold in the women's 66kg division last summer.
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However, her triumph was overshadowed by revelations that the International Boxing Association had disqualified her from the 2023 World Championships for allegedly failing gender tests.
IBA president Umar Kremlev has since demanded Khelif return her gold medal.
Khelif is not transgender and was assigned female at birth, but her eligibility has been questioned due to reported hormone levels that allegedly exceeded thresholds set by boxing authorities.
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Imane Khelif won gold at the Paris Olympics
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Khelif's future in competitive boxing remains uncertain following World Boxing's introduction of mandatory testing to confirm athletes' eligibility for women's competitions.
The new requirements could prevent the Olympic champion from defending her title unless she complies with the testing protocols.
Coventry emphasised the IOC's approach would be grounded in science: "We need to do that with a scientific approach and the inclusion of the international federations who have already done a lot of work in this area."
The IOC president suggested the organisation might draw inspiration from World Athletics policy, which restricts biological males from competing in women's sports if they have gone through male puberty.
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