Your trusted source

The family who raised Imane Khelif, the boxer whose Olympics have been overshadowed by a gender eligibility row, has told the BBC "Imane was born female and has lived as a female".

Her uncle, Rachid Jabeur, told BBC Arabic that he thought Khelif’s tough upbringing in Algeria has given her the mental strength to cope with the huge pressure that she has found herself under during the current games.

She is one of two boxers who are competing at Paris 2024 despite being banned from last year's World Championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA), after she was reported to have failed eligibility tests, a situation which has sparked huge controversy.

Imane and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting have been strongly backed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which runs the boxing competitions at the Games, and has ruled that the pair are both women and are eligible to compete.

Rachid, the uncle of Imane, who is guaranteed to win at least a bronze medal in Paris, spoke to the BBC from the city of Tiaret in north-western Algeria.