Boston Globe offers lengthy correction to factually inaccurate Imane Khelif headline amid Olympic gender controversy
The Boston Globe has apologized for its headline that called Algerian Imane Khelif a “transgender boxer.”
The heavily criticized headline ran in both the print edition of the paper last week and on its mobile edition with a story written by the Associated Press’ Greg Beacham.
“Transgender boxer advances,” it read.
However, on Saturday the Globe issued a statement in which it apologized for the inaccurate nature of the headline.
“A significant error was made in a headline on a story in Friday’s print sports section about Algerian boxer Imane Khelif incorrectly describing her as transgender. She is not. Additionally, our initial correction of this error neglected to note that she was born female.
“We recognize the magnitude of this mistake and have corrected it in the epaper, the electronic version of the printed Globe. The editing lapse is regretful and unacceptable and we apologize to Khelif, to Associated Press writer Greg Beacham, and to you, our readers,” the statement from the Boston Globe read.
The Associated Press story did not refer to Khelif as transgender and the publication originally titled the article, “Algeria boxer Imane Khelif wins first Olympic fight when opponent Angela Carini quits.”
Beacham himself responded to criticism over the situation in a post on X over the weekend, explaining that he did not write the headline.
“That’s not my headline. That word isn’t in my story,” Beacham said. “My stories are syndicated worldwide, and customers are allowed to write their own headlines.”
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Khelif, along with female boxer Lin Yu Ting, are at the center of an ongoing controversy surrounding questions over their gender.
Both athletes were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships by the International Boxing Association after they failed a gender eligibility test last year.
Khelif has identified as a female since birth, is listed as a woman on her passport and has been competing in women’s boxing since she started competing.
She told reporters on Sunday that “I am a woman” after she defeated Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori to guarantee she leaves Paris with a medal.
The controversy blew up last week when Italian boxer Angela Carini walked away from her fight with Khelif 46 seconds into the bout and drew new attention to the IBA ban raising questions about her gender.
The IBA has a history of being dominated by Russia and was banned from the Olympics last year.
They have not run Olympic boxing since 2016.
