Caitlin Clark was named the AP Female Athlete of the Year without much competition, but one vote-getter was the source of the summer’s biggest controversy.
A group of 74 Associated Press sports journalists and its members voted for the award. Clark received 35 votes, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles was second with 25.
But Olympic gold medalist boxer Imane Khelif came in third, receiving four votes.
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Imane Khelif of Team Algeria celebrates victory against Anna Luca Hamori of Team Hungary after the Women’s 66kg final round match on the eighth day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena on Aug. 3, 2024 in Paris, France. (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Khelif qualified for the Paris Olympics, but Khelif’s gender was questioned following the withdrawal from the 2023 competition ahead of the gold medal fight over gender-eligibility issues.
IBA President Umar Kremlev said the boxer has “XY chromosomes,” which are compatible with natural males.
Another boxer, Angela Carini, lost her fight with Khelif in Paris, saying “one punch hurt too much.”
Khelif won gold in Paris and is not the only female gold medalist to fail the gender eligibility test. Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting also won gold in another women’s weight class in Paris, sparking similar outrage.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended Khelif and Yu-ting’s inclusion in the women’s events until the end.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif, left, battles China’s Liu Yang in the women’s gold medal match at the 2024 Paris Games. (Sebastian Kahnert/photo alliance via Getty Images)
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“These two athletes were victims of a sudden and unreasonable decision by the IBA. At the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were disqualified without due process,” the IOC said during the games.
Khelif later won the gold. Khelif did not lose a single round on any scoreboards in Paris.
After Carini won her eighth Italian women’s title earlier this month, she said the victory was her “revenge”.
Gold medalist Imane Khelif of Algeria sits on the podium during the medal ceremony of the women’s 66kg boxing final during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on August 9, 2024. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)
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Khelif was the most Googled athlete of the year, mostly because of the controversy.
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