Algerian gold medallist boxer Imane Khelif, 25, has filed a harassment complaint against social media platform X, Le Monde reports.
According to Le Monde, the complaint centred around online "moral harassment".
The complaint condemned "speculation fueled by malicious individuals" who were referred to in the complaint as "important political figures".
Khelif won the gold medal for the women's welterweight division at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Aug. 10, beating China's Yang Liu at the Court Phillippe-Chatrier.
Gender row
Khelif was first put under the spotlight when she faced off against Italian boxer Angela Carini on Aug. 1.
Carini withdrew from the match 46 seconds into the first round.
Images of Carini falling to her knees, crying and refusing to shake Khelif's hand went viral on social media.
Carini later said that Khelif's punch "hurt too much", and that she had "never felt a punch like this".
Prominent figures like J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk chimed in on X, alleging that Khelif was male:
Could any picture sum up our new mens rights movement better? The smirk of a male whos knows hes protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman hes just punched in the head, and whose lifes ambition hes just shattered. #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Q5SbKiksXQ
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 1, 2024
The controversy also extended to Taiwanese boxer and gold medallist Lin Yu Ting, who was also accused of being male.
Many took to social media to accuse Khelif and Lin of being either transgender athletes or male athletes.
Both athletes, however, insist that they are women.
Harassment complaint
Khelif's lawyer, Nabil Boudi, claimed that messages posted by prominent figures attacking Khelif reached over 100 million views on the X platform, Le Monde wrote.
Khelif called the attacks made against her on social media "extremely bad" and "meaningless".
She said that the IBA "hates" her and that she does not know why.
Addressing the IBA, she said: "I send them a single message: with this gold medal, my dignity, my honour is above everything else.
