Martina Navratilova has been left red-faced after being fooled by a fake picture of Olympic boxer Imane Khelif. The 25-year-old won a gold medal in the women’s welterweight boxing event in Paris after her biological gender had been questioned.
An image that purported to show Khelif wearing nothing but a pair of pants with a male-like physique was posted to social media on Monday.
The image, which caused plenty of debate online, had been digitally generated, however.
Navratilova had no idea that the image wasn’t genuine as she shared it on her X (formerly Twitter) page and wrote: “What we have been saying for months.
“And for calling his person a man or at least a male, we got called all kinds of names and most of all the women this male took medals and wins from. Just awful.”
The fake image was accompanied by a reader’s added context box that explained: “This is a digitally generated image. It is not necessary to use fake images to make a point about protecting women’s sports.”
Some fans hit out at Navratilova for her mistake, while others sided with her in the debate.
Khelif won her boxing gold a year after being disqualified from the World Championships following failed testosterone and gender eligibility tests.
And after her victory over Chinese world champion Yang Liu, she vowed: “I am fully qualified to take part in this competition. I am a woman like any other woman.
“I was born a woman. I have lived as a woman. I competed as a woman – there is no doubt about that.” She also claimed that she had been a victim of bullying.
In October, World Boxing Organisation legal counsel Gustavo Olivieri said the body had “not tested, nor had it banned” Khelif and that “any report stating otherwise is obviously fake and ill intentioned” after claims emerged that suggested the boxer had been stripped of her Olympic medal.
Khelif has been back in the news this week after an apparent leaked report, first reported by German publication Bild, claimed the fighter was a ‘biological male’. It is currently unclear whether the report is legitimate.
Earlier this week, Navratilova took aim at Khelif once again after the report was referenced by former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies on X. The 18-time tennis Grand Slam singles champion wrote: “And here we are. Imane might have been raised as a woman but Imane is a biological male and should not have been allowed to box at the Olympics.”
