Jillian Michaels is wading into the gender controversy surrounding Algerian boxer, Imane Khelif, who won gold at the Paris Olympics.
The Biggest Loser alum suggested athletes should submit to ‘cheek swab’ tests after Khelif endured a hateful campaign, in which she faced a torrent of questions over her gender.
The 25-year-old, who is not a transgender woman, allegedly has male ‘XY chromosomes’ which led to her disqualification from the 2023 world championships when she failed unspecified gender eligibility tests administered by the now-banned International Boxing Association.
Michaels discussed the gender row surrounding Khelif and Taiwan‘s Lin Yu-ting on the OutKick podcast, ‘Tomi Lahren is Fearless’ this week.
‘Let’s remove the transgender component of this because these two athletes are not transgender, they are saying that they are female. You’ve got two independent tests done by two labs that are separate from the International Boxing Association that found a Y chromosome. That’s male,’ the 50-year-old said.
Jillian Michaels is wading into the gender controversy surrounding boxer, Imane Khelif
The 25-year-old, who is not a transgender woman, allegedly has male ‘XY chromosomes’
‘So, now then, why did they not contest these findings? Twice! A simple cheek swab will solve the problem, will answer the question.’
The TV personality went on, ‘Now the Olympics is like “well the passport says female and they’ve been able to compete before.” So, how about this? How about you do a cheek swab? Really simple, and then you negate the entire conversation.’
Earlier this week, Khelif filed a lawsuit against X over alleged ‘acts of aggravated cyber harassment’ in which she named Elon Musk and JK Rowling after they led outcry at her participation in the 2024 Games.
Nabil Boudi, the gold medalist’s Paris-based attorney, told Variety that the Tesla mogul and Harry Potter author were both named in the criminal complaint posted to the anti-online hatred center of the public prosecutor’s office last week.
Boudi said that Khelif filed the lawsuit as part of her ‘fight for justice, dignity and honour.’
‘J. K. Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,’ Boudi wrote on X, noting that Donald Trump would also be part of the investigation.
The Biggest Loser alum suggested Olympic athletes should submit to ‘cheek swab’ tests
The Olympic gold medalist’s attorney filed a suit against X, and named high-profile stars
Possible repercussions for cyber-bullying offences in France are prison sentences ranging from two to five years and fines ranging from £26,000 to £39,000. If prosecuted as online hate speech, perpetrators could even be fined £64,000 to £214,000.
Backlash against the boxer began when Italy’s Angela Carini abandoned their fight in just 46 seconds after she was hit twice, suffered a suspected broken nose and barely threw a punch.
The Italian then sank to her knees, beat the canvas in frustration and refused to shake Khelif’s hand as she conceding victory.
Meanwhile, Olympic bosses doubled down on their decision to allow Khelif and Yu-ting to compete after they were disqualified from the 2023 world championship.
Shortly after the event, the IBA had their status stripped by the IOC over governance issues and alleged corruption.
‘Every person has the right to practice sport without discrimination,’ the IOC said in a statement, which also attacked ‘misleading information about two female athletes.’
‘The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving.’
The 25-year-old was cleared to compete in the women’s category at the 2024 Paris Olympics
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