Imane Khelif, boxer in Olympic gender drama, gets votes for athlete of the year

Caitlin Clark and Simone Biles topped the votes for 2024 athlete of the year, but another contender turned heads in the annual count.

Caitlin Clark was named AP’s Female Athlete of the Year without much competition, but another person who received votes was the cause of much controversy in 2024.

A group of 74 sports journalists from The Associated Press and its members voted on the award, the New York Post reports.

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Clark received 35 votes, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles was second with 25 and Olympic boxing gold medallist Imane Khelif was third, getting four votes.

Khelif qualified for the Paris Olympics, but her gender was called into question following a disqualification from the 2023 championships before a gold medal bout over gender eligibility issues.

Gold medallist Algeria's Imane Khelif poses on the podium at the Paris Olympics. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)

Khelif speaking at the Doha Forum in the Qatari capital on December 7, 2024. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP)

IBA President Umar Kremlev said the boxer had “XY chromosomes”, which are associated with biological males.

One boxer, Angela Carini, forfeited her bout against Khelif in Paris, saying “one punch hurt too much”.

Khelif won gold in Paris and wasn’t the only boxer to win a women’s gold who had been disqualified for failing gender eligibility tests.

Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting also won gold in another women’s weight class in Paris, prompting similar outrage.

The International Olympics Committee (IOC) defended Khelif and Yu-ting’s inclusion in the women’s events until the very end.

Basketball star Caitlin Clark won the award. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

Olympic gymnast Simone Biles received the second most votes. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)

“These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process,” the IOC said during the games.

Khelif later won gold in Paris.

Khelif did not lose a single round on any scorecards during the Games.

After Carini won her eighth women’s Italian title earlier this month, she claimed the victory was her “revenge”.

Khelif was the most Googled athlete of the year, largely due to the controversy.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Imane Khelif, boxer in Olympic gender drama, gets votes for athlete of the year