Getty ImagesBoxer Imane Khelif has filed a complaint over alleged cyberbullying during the Paris 2024 Olympics, reportedly naming author JK Rowling and X owner Elon Musk.
The Algerian boxer won gold in Paris despite being disqualified from last year’s World Championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA) after failing gender eligibility tests in 2023.
However, the International Olympic Committee strongly defended Khelif’s right to compete and ruled that she was eligible.
His lawyer, Mr Nabil Boudi told Variety on Tuesday that Musk and Rowling would be named in the lawsuit, following comments they made on social media.
Khelif’s participation was widely discussed online, after Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned her Olympic fight against her after 46 seconds.
The Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP on Wednesday that it had opened an investigation into cyberbullying, following a complaint filed by Khelif.
However, a prominent French legal blogger written on X that it is unlikely that Mr Musk or Ms Rowling will be prosecuted, as French criminal law does not apply to acts committed outside France against foreign nationals.
But prosecutors could bring charges against those who sent messages on French soil.
Khelif, like Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, was allowed to compete in women’s boxing in Paris after being disqualified from last year’s women’s world championships for failing to meet eligibility criteria.
But the IOC took a different view, strongly defending both boxers.
“It’s a question of justice: women must be allowed to participate in women’s competitions. And these are two women,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.
Getty ImagesX CEO Mr Musk and Harry Potter author Ms Rowling both posted comments about the boxer, with Ms Rowling saying Khelif was “enjoying the distress of a woman he had just punched in the head” after the fight with Carini.
Mr Musk shared a post by swimmer Riley Gaines that said “men have no place in women’s sports”.
BBC News has contacted representatives for Mr Musk and Ms Rowling for comment.
After her victory, Khelif said the “attacks” over her gender eligibility gave her victory over Chinese world champion Yang Liu a “special taste” after she won Olympic women’s boxing gold, a year after she was disqualified from the world championships.
“I am fully qualified to participate in this competition,” said Khelif, 25. “I am a woman like any other.
“I was born a woman. I lived as a woman. I competed as a woman, there is no doubt about that.”
A day after dropping her own fight against Khelif, Carini said she “wanted to apologize” to her opponent for how she handled the moments that followed, when she refused to shake Khelif’s hand.
Yang was also due to face Khelif in last year’s World Championship final – a title Yang won – but Khelif was disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) before their meeting.
The IBA said Khelif and Lin “did not meet the eligibility criteria to participate in the women’s competition, as defined and described in the IBA regulations.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed them to compete, cast doubt on the tests and sharply criticized the IBA.
A chaotic press conference later held by the IBA did little to clear up the confusion surrounding Khelif and Lin’s bans.
General manager Chris Roberts said both men had undergone “chromosomal testing,” while chairman Umar Kremlev appeared to suggest the tests determined the fighters’ testosterone levels.
The BBC was unable to determine what the eligibility tests involved.
The Russian-led IBA was stripped of its status as amateur boxing’s governing body by the IOC in 2019 over concerns about its governance and regulation.
