Caitlin Clark was named AP’s Female Athlete of the Year without much competition, but one person who received votes was the cause for much controversy over the summer.
A group of 74 sports journalists from The Associated Press and its members voted on the award. Clark received 35 votes, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles was second with 25.
But Olympic gold medalist boxer Imane Khelif was third, getting 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 Quarter-final round match on day eight of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at 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 called into question following a disqualification from the 2023 championships before a gold medal bout over gender eligibility issues.
IBA President Umar Kremlev said the boxer had “XY chromosomes,” which are associated with biological males.
One boxer, Angela Carini, forfeited her bout against Khelif in Paris, saying “one punch hurt too much.”
Khelif won gold in Paris and wasn’t the only boxer to win a women’s gold who has been disqualified for failing gender eligibility tests. Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting also won gold in another women’s weight class in Paris, prompting similar outrage.
The International Olympics Committee (IOC) defended Khelif and Yu-ting’s inclusion in the women’s events until the very end.
Imane Khelif of Algeria, left, fights Liu Yang of China in the women’s gold medal match at the 2024 Paris Games. (Sebastian Kahnert/picture alliance via Getty Images)
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“These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, 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 scoreboards in Paris.
After Carini won her eighth women’s 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, largely in part due to the controversy.
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