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Caitlin Clark was named AP Female Athlete of the Year without much competition, but one vote-getter was the cause of much controversy over the summer.
The award was voted on by a group of 74 sports journalists from the Associated Press and its members. Clark received 35 votes, an Olympic gymnast Simone Biles was second with 25.
But Olympic gold medalist boxer Imane Khelif was third with four votes.
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Imane Khelif of Team Algeria celebrates victory against Anna Luca Hamori of Team Hungary after their women’s 66kg quarter-final match on day eight of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Arena North Paris on August 3, 2024 in Paris, France. (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Khelif qualified for the Paris Olympics, but Khelif’s gender was questioned after being disqualified from the 2023 championships before the gold medal fight due to gender eligibility issues.
President of IBA Umar Kremlev said the boxer had “XY chromosomes,” which are related to biological males.
One boxer, Angela Carini, gave up her fight against Khelif in Paris, saying “one punch hurt too much”.
Khelif won gold in Paris and was not the only boxer to win gold in the women’s competition who was disqualified for failing gender eligibility tests. Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting also won gold in the other women’s weight category in Paris, sparking similar outrage.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended the inclusion of Khelif and Yu-ting in women’s disciplines until the very end.
Imane Khelif of Algeria, left, battles Liu Yang of China in the women’s gold medal fight 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 any due process,” the IOC said during the games.
Khelif later won gold. Khelif did not lose a single round on any scoreboard in Paris.
After Carini won her eighth Italian 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 women’s 66kg final boxing category 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 in part because of the controversy.
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