Caitlin Clark was named AP’s Female Athlete of the Year without much competition, but one person who received votes caused a lot of controversy over the summer.
A group of 74 Associated Press sportswriters and their affiliates voted on the award. Clark received 35 votes, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles came second with 25.
But Olympic gold medalist and boxer Imane Khelif came third, receiving four votes.
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Imane Khelif of Team Algeria celebrates winning against Anna Luca Hamori of Team Hungary after the Women’s 66kg quarterfinal match on the eighth day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at North Paris Arena on August 3, 2024 in Paris, France. (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Khelif qualified for the Paris Olympics, but Khelif’s gender was called into question after he was disqualified from the 2023 championships ahead of a gold medal fight over gender eligibility issues.
IBA President Umar Kremlev said the boxer had “XY chromosomes” who are linked to biological men.
One boxer, Angela Carini, lost her fight against Khelif in Paris with the words: “One punch hurt too much.”
Khelif won gold in Paris and was not the only boxer to win gold in the women’s category to be disqualified for failing gender suitability tests. Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting also won gold in a different women’s weight class in Paris, prompting similar outrage.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended the inclusion of Khelif and Yu-ting in the women’s competition until the end.
Imane Khelif of Algeria (left) fights against Liu Yang of China in the women’s gold medal match at the Paris 2024 Games. (Sebastian Kahnert/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
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“These two athletes were victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. “Towards the end of the 2023 IBA World Championships, they were suddenly disqualified without due process,” the IOC said during the Games.
Khelif later won gold. Khelif didn’t lose a single round in Paris.
After Carini won her eighth Italian women’s title earlier this month, she claimed the victory was her “revenge”.
Gold medalist Imane Khelif of Algeria poses on the podium during the medal ceremony for the final women’s boxing class of up to 66 kg at the 2024 Olympic Games on August 9, 2024. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)
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Khelif was the most Googled athlete of the year, largely due to the controversy.
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