Nearly a year after Algerian boxer Imane Khelif controversially won gold in the 66-kilogram women’s division at the 2024 summer Olympics in Paris, leaked lab results reveal Khelif has male chromosomes.
The newly published medical records, exclusively obtained by Alan Abrahamson and 3 Wire Sports, explicitly state “chromosome analysis reveals male karyotype” in Khelif. These results are what led the International Boxing Association (IBA) to ban the fighter from the World Championships in 2023.
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn reacted to Abrahamson’s reporting and was joined by Stephen A. Smith to discuss the unfairness of men and boys competing with – and beating – women and girls.
Olympic-Size Controversy
Last summer, two boxers who had previously been barred from competing in female competition due to a failure to meet gender eligibility requirements were allowed to fight against women at the Paris Olympics thanks to a ruling from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan were disqualified from the 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championship in New Delhi, India, by the IBA after chromosome testing came back XY (in case you need a refresher, females have two X chromosomes and males have one X and one Y chromosome).
Even so, the IOC allowed Khelif to compete in the 66-kilogram weight category and Lin to face off in the 57-kilogram weight class. Both dominated their female opponents throughout the competition and took home gold medals in their respective events.
Controversy ensued as speculation grew that the athletes in question were ‘intersex’ due to a Difference of Sexual Development (DSD), though neither had ever admitted such. IOC spokesperson Mark Adams infamously claimed in a press conference at the time that Khelif and Lin’s passports identify them as women, so, therefore, they must be women.
The New Reporting
Megyn was a vocal critic of the IOC last summer and took a deep dive into why Khelif and Lin should not have been allowed to compete. Among the evidence was the chromosome testing that led to their disqualification at the 2023 World Championships.
The Megyn Kelly Show interviewed Abrahamson, a former NBC Sports and L.A. Times reporter who now runs 3 Wire Sports, because he revealed he had seen the lab results that showed Khelif, in particular, was found to have XY chromosomes. On Sunday, Abrahamson went one step further, publishing a portion of the test that identified the boxer as male (you can view it here).
According to Abrahamson, the World Boxing Federation is now mandating Khelif submit to another chromosome test to prove eligibility before returning to competition. The boxer reportedly wants to take part in an event in Holland later this week, and it remains to be seen whether or not that will happen.
Lin, meanwhile, pulled out of an international competition in the U.K. last November due to questions about gender eligibility. “Both of these two, when actually pressed saying, ‘You can’t compete because you appear to be a male,’ have not challenged it,” Megyn noted. “What does that tell you?”
What Comes Next
Gender eligibility policies will continue to be top of mind in the lead up to the 2028 summer Olympics in Los Angeles. So far, Megyn noted there have been “zero rumblings” about Khelif being forced to return the gold medal he won in Paris, and he has said he is not worried about President Donald Trump’s policies protecting women’s sports because he is not a transgender athlete.
Meanwhile, there is new leadership on the way at the IOC. Kirsty Coventry, a former Olympian from Zimbabwe, was elected president in March and will assume the office on June 23. “She has been vocal in her support for a blanket ban on men in female sports,” Megyn noted. “However, she was part of the IOC executive board that allowed Khelif and Lin to compete in the first place knowing what they already knew about World Boxing and them being banned.”
Time will tell where Coventry stands, but there has been radio silence from those who dragged Megyn and the others who sounded the alarm about Khelif through the mud last year. Smith said he does not understand what “makes anybody think there wouldn’t be a decisive disadvantage for females born female in a boxing ring.”
“That is a violent sport; that is a pugilistic sport,” he said. “And there’s a lot of people that owe you an apology. I appreciate where you were coming from, but I also love the fact that you carry receipts and you pointed out folks that were talking a lot of smack.”
Megyn suggested she won’t hold her breath for apologies, but she did have a word of advice for the women training to compete at the highest levels of the sport. “To all female boxers training for the next Olympics, you better find your voices now to stop it,” Megyn concluded. “Or lace up your gloves and get ready for a quick, easy, and, likely, dangerous knockout.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Smith by tuning in to episode 1,085 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.