- Jake Shields ranted about Imane Khelif’s Olympic gold victory at the Paris Olympics
- The Algerian boxer endured an array of obstacles regarding her true gender while competing
Imane Khelif secured the gold medal in the 2024 but Jake Shields is among those who are not celebrating it.
🚨 IMANE KHALIF STEALS GOLD MEDAL IN WOMEN’S BOXING.
Today, the IOC allowed a male boxer with XY chromosomes to win a gold medal in women’s boxing, beating 4 women to get there.
For shame. Women’s sports is a joke.
SAVE WOMEN’S SPORTS. #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Zms6jACk2r
— Hazel Appleyard (@HazelAppleyard_) August 9, 2024
History was made tonight!!!
Imane Khelif is officially the first man to ever win a gold medal in Women’s Olympics Boxing.
Thoughts?#OlympicGames #Olympic2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/maC19TF4Xu
— Cinema Shogun (@CinemaShogun) August 10, 2024
Imane won gold amid controversies
Khelif made it to the women’s welterweight finals despite facing a flurry of controversies and hateful remarks from the public, stemming from her issues with gender eligibility. The Algerian boxer went on to beat China’s Yang Liu to capture the gold medal for her country.
Speaking after her triumph, Khelif refused to entertain any negativity and focused on the positives as she thanked everybody who supported her en route to her career milestone.
“I’m very happy. For eight years, this has been my dream and I’m now the Olympic champion and gold medallist,” Khelif said. “I’ve worked for eight years, no sleep, eight years tired. Now I’m Olympic champion.
“I want to thank all the people who have come to support me. All the people from Algeria and all the people at my base. I want to thank all the team, my coach. Thank you so much.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/C-e7zIJuRCw/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=5fa7e93c-0386-4c4f-a15a-dee0ce87d4ac
Jake didn’t like it
However, not all were happy for Khelif and that includes former UFC welterweight Shields. Prior to Khelif’s gold medal victory, Shields already voiced his disdain for transgender athletes.
Unsurprisingly, the UFC veteran had something distasteful to say about Khelif’s Olympic win.
“It’s unbelievable how many people have been fooled into believing this man is a woman. The IBA very specificity said that he failed the Chromosome and testosterone test. People will believe what they want but allowing a man to beat up women is shameful,” Shields wrote on X.
It’s unbelievable how many people have been fooled into believing this man is a woman
The IBA very specificity said that he failed the Chromosome and testosterone test
People will believe what they want but allowing a man to beat up women is shameful https://t.co/iaw3jCRb0J
— Jake Shields (@jakeshieldsajj) August 10, 2024
Despite the confirmation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stating that Khelif as well as Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting were biological women, the pair was still targeted on social media platforms over questions regarding their true genders.
Though it is likely that many would discredit Khelif’s feat, the truth remains that she won all of her four bouts at the Paris Olympics and has officially cemented her name in the Olympic history.
