Donald Trump has come in for criticism for repeatedly referring to female Olympic gold medalist Imane Khelif as a ‘man’.
Khelif became the first Algerian female Olympic boxing gold medallist when she triumphed in the women’s welterweight category in Paris.
However, the 25-year-old’s road to victory was marred by a gender identity row that saw many demand that Khelif be thrown out of the Games.
The Algerian was cleared to compete in the French capital by the International Olympic Committee but her gender had come into question having been disqualified from last year’s Women’s World Championships for allegedly failing gender eligibility rules set by the International Boxing Association (IBA).
False claims that Khelif was born a male forced her own father to go public with her birth certificate.
However, that has not appeared to stop former President Trump who repeatedly referred to Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, a Taiwanese fighter who was also barred by the IBA, as men in a conversation with Mark Calaway, better known as WWE legend The Undertaker.
‘Did you see that boxing match at the Olympics?, the 78-year-old said on the Six Feet Under podcast. ‘Did you see that beautiful Italian girl?
‘She’s supposed to be a good boxer. She took just a left jab. The guy goes (Trump throws a punch) boom. Like a defensive punch.
‘I never saw something quite like that. She doesn’t go down, she walked back to her corner and said, “I just got hit harder than I’ve ever been hit before”.
‘Her corner pushes her back out, “You can do it, you can do it”. He goes with another left jab and she walks off, “There’s no way I can win”.’
Trump continued: ‘Now there were two in the Olympics. Because I didn’t even know they had female boxing. There were two people that transitioned into women. Both of them won the gold medal. Shockingly.’
Trump went on to joke about Calaway transitioning to wrestle as a female, while the former WWE star labelled Khalif’s participation in the Paris Games as ‘shocking’ and ‘ridiculous’.
The Algerian, meanwhile, has previously spoken out about the ‘cruel’ tirade of abuse she faced while in Paris and more recently announced her intention to turn professional in the coming months.
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