"Depressing";"Martina Navratilova's such an a**hole nowadays" - Fans furious over American 'bullying' Paris Olympics gold medalist boxer Imane Khelif

Fans online have reacted to Martina Navratilova's comments on the questions surrounding Imane Khelif's participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics boxing competition. The American called the situation a 'travesty' following Khelif's gold medal win.

Algerian boxer Khelif participated in the women's 66kg category at the ongoing Olympics. She had been disqualified for allegedly failing an eligibility test at the World Championships last year, which came to light before the Paris Games 2024 and led to a debate.

Navratilova and others have said that the Algerian boxer has distinct unfair advantages over her competitors.

Khelif, despite the debates and comments surrounding her participation, won the gold medal in the welterweight category by defeating China's Yang Liu in the final. The Chinese boxer embraced her Algerian opponent after the final.

Navratilova shared a few posts on X (formerly Twitter) following the final, calling the situation a 'travesty' in one of them.

Martina Navratilova going ballistic over Imane Khelif winning the Women’s Boxing Gold on twitter byu/3axel3loop intennis

Fans on Reddit later responded to the American's comments:

"This is really depressing, and for all the shit Martina had to endure in her career — likely in part because of how physically imposing she looked relative to the average WTA player of the time — one would have hoped that she’d try to approach the topic of Khelif with a little more intelligence, knowledge, and grace. But guess not. It really sucks. For other trailblazing things she’s done she’s kind of a hero of mine, but her bullying this woman on Twitter is some real bulls**t, said one fan

Comment byu/3axel3loop from discussion intennis

"Again, I ask why she isn't raging over the convicted Dutch pedophile playing beach volleyball. You know, something that doesn't have an ounce of confusion or obfuscation from some disgraced and spiteful Russia boxing association," another fan wrote.

"Martina's such an a**hole nowadays, I'm really tired of her only ever popping up in context of bizarre aggro gender policing grievances," a fan added.

Comment byu/3axel3loop from discussion intennis

Here are some more fan reactions to Martina Navratilova's comments:

"This stupid hag literally had to deal with homophobia, but she wants to be transphobic despite this athlete not even being trans...," one fan wrote.

"Ok grandma, let's get you back into bed," another fan wrote.

"It's so ironic that Martina Navratilova of all people has these views," a fan opined.

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Martina Navratilova calls Imane Khelif's gold medal a 'travesty' as Algerian reflects on 'enemies of success'

Martina Navratilova (Image: Getty)

Martina Navratilova shared on X (formerly Twitter) the result of the gold medal match in the women's 66kg category and wrote:

“Thanks for nothing IOC [International Olympic Committee]. Shame on you. This is a travesty.”

Imane Khelif won the bout in a unanimous decision and later shared her thoughts about the controversy surrounding her participation:

“I am fully qualified to participate in this competition,” she said after winning gold. “I am a woman, I was born a woman, I have lived as a woman and I competed as a woman. There is no doubt about that," Khelif said after her win.

“There are enemies of success – this is what I call them. Of course, that also gives my success a special taste because of these attacks,” she added.

Khelif won in front of an enraptured crowd on the Roland Garros' Court Philippe-Chatrier which has been turned into a boxing ring. Her opponent Yang was booed as she entered the arena, but the pair gracefully greeted each other after the final round.