The Associated Press is facing backlash after awarding third place in its Female Athlete of the Year rankings to Olympic boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria, Breitbart reported.
WNBA star Caitlin Clark secured the top spot, and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles earned second place.
Khelif was unwittingly thrust into a worldwide clash over gender identity and regulation in sports after her first fight, when Italian opponent Angela Carini pulled out just seconds into the match, citing pain from opening punches. False claims that Khelif was transgender or a man erupted online, and the International Olympic Committee defended her and denounced those peddling misinformation.
Khelif has a rare condition known as difference of sex development, in which the individual has XY chromosomes and higher levels of testosterone.
The controversy stemmed from the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association's decision to disqualify Khelif and fellow two-time Olympian Li Yu-ting of Taiwan from last year's world championships, claiming both failed an eligibility test for women's competition that IBA officials have declined to answer basic questions about.
Khelif was assigned female at birth and it says so on her passport, which is the IOC's threshold for eligibility for boxing because of the rift between the sport's governing body and the IOC.
The IOC took the unprecedented step last year of permanently banning the IBA from the Olympics following years of concerns about its governance, competitive fairness, and financial transparency. The IOC has called the arbitrary sex tests that the sport's governing body imposed on the two boxers irretrievably flawed.
During the Paris Olympics, Khelif dominated the women's boxing category, ultimately winning the gold medal in the 66-kilogram division.
The AP's decision to include Khelif in its Female Athlete of the Year rankings has been criticized online, Breitbart reported.
Fashion company XX-XY Athletics posted on X: "Imane Khelif voted 3rd place for AP Female Athlete Of 2024. We've got work to do, folks."
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova shared XX-XY Athletics' post and wrote: "Wtaf???"
Women's sports advocate Riley Gaines also shared the fashion company's post and expressed her disapproval.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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