2024 Olympics : « Imane Khelif was devastated to discover out of the blue that she might not be a girl ! »

Algerian Imane Khelif took to the ring for her final fight of the Paris Olympics on Friday August 9, winning gold in the welterweight division. Unknown to the general public until the opening of the Games, she has been in the spotlight ever since, battered by a controversy over her gender.

To get to the Olympics, Khelif, who received her boxing license in Nice, in the south of France, relied on a number of experts based in Algeria, in the United States and also in France. Le Point was able to reach one of them by phone : Georges Cazorla, who has worked out a program for her physical preparation for the Games. In the past, he has consulted for several leading sport federations and clubs.

Le Point : You helped prepare the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif for the Paris Olympics. How did you two meet ?

Georges Cazorla : I was a teacher of biology applied to physical activity and sport in the University of Bordeaux. There, I supervised the master thesis of Nasser Yefsah, Imane Khelif's manager, who manages her career. His topic was boxing. He lived in Nice – and still does – and would come to Bordeaux to sit in my class on a regular basis. At the end of 2022, Nasser reached out to me and offered to help Imane Khelif prepare for the World Championship, the African Championship and the Olympic Games. So I kind of came out of retirement ! I didn't know Imane then.

And you didn't know much about boxing either !

True. But I've lived in the sports universe for a long time. I [...] Lire la suite