A few months after winning a gold medal in the Olympics in Paris, Imane Khelif announced her intention to pursue a career as a professional boxer.

After been previously disqualified from the World Championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA) due to gender eligibility tests, the Algerian sensation encountered a flurry of controversy during her Olympic voyage. Notably, no indisputable proof has been offered for this issue.

Khelif, who is only 25 years old, became the focus of controversy as the Games went on in addition to making history by defeating Yang Liu 5-0 in the women’s 66kg boxing division to win Algeria’s first female boxing gold.

After less than a minute, Angela Carini abruptly left their fight, clearly upset and skipping the traditional handshake after the fight, though she later apologized for the resulting controversy.

In August, when the Olympics were overshadowed by widespread rumors about her gender, an emotionally damaged Khelif revealed the magnitude of the hate directed at her.

Following her victory in Paris, the Algerian athlete is now focusing on a new goal in the ring: turning professional. Speaking to the media on Sunday, she announced, “I would like to hold a press conference today to share with you my success story with the media family and young women who watch me.

“There is a documentary being prepared about my success story and it will be shown on international platforms. I will soon enter the world of professional boxing, I have many offers. Currently, I have not made up my mind about where I will enter professional boxing. But very soon I will take this step, we as Algerians would like to see our level in the field of professionalism.”

Following a wave of unfounded rumors earlier this month that Khelif had lost her Olympic honors, the World Boxing Organization made a strong statement clarifying the facts. Online rumors claimed that the 25-year-old had been disqualified and would be banned from the WBO for life.

Such sanctions, however, would be well outside the purview of the regulating organization given her amateur status.

“The World Boxing Organisation has informed that it had not tested, nor has it banned female boxer Imane Khelif, who won a gold medal during the boxing tournament of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France,” the organization’s official statement stated.

WBO legal counsel Gustavo Olivieri, Esq. clarified: “The report claiming that the WBO had banned Khelif are obviously false. We have had no communication with Khelif. We congratulate her and wish her luck in all her future endeavours.”

He emphasized further: “Any report stating otherwise is obviously fake and ill-intentioned.”