��������

Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif has denied claims made by her former manager that she has retired from the sport, saying she is still training regularly.
Algerian Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting were in the spotlight at the Paris Games last year over their eligibility after they had been disqualified from the 2023 World Championships by the IBA, which said sex chromosome tests had ruled them ineligible.
However, they competed in the women’s category in Paris after being cleared by the International Olympic Committee, with both winning gold medals in their weight classes.
Khelif has not competed since her win in Paris.
In an interview with French newspaper Nice-Matin on Wednesday, Khelif’s former manager Nasser Yesfah said she had “left the world of boxing.”
In a follow-up interview with the same newspaper hours later, Yesfah clarified he was only referring to Khelif’s boxing commitments in the city of Nice, where she was previously part of the Nice Azur club.
Khelif criticized Yesfah’s comments in a post on Facebook on Wednesday.
“It is based solely on statements made by a person who no longer represents me in any way, and whom I consider to have betrayed my trust and my country with his false and malicious statements,” Khelif wrote.
“I have never announced my retirement from boxing. I remain committed to my sporting career, training regularly and maintaining my physical fitness between Algeria and Qatar in preparation for upcoming events.
“The publication of such rumors is intended solely to disrupt and damage my sporting and professional career.”
Khelif had been due to compete in a World Boxing tournament in the Netherlands in June, but opted to skip it shortly after the governing body initially announced its plans to introduce sex testing for all boxers in its competitions.
World Boxing president Boris van der Vorst later apologized after Khelif was named in their announcement on mandatory sex testing, saying her privacy should have been protected.
Khelif, 26, has repeatedly said she was born a woman and has a long history in female boxing competitions. In March, she said she would defend her title at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

NEW YORK: Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud will play defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori on Wednesday night for the US Open mixed doubles title and $1 million.

Swiatek and Ruud, the No. 3 seeds, beat top-seeded Jessica Pegula 3-5, 5-3, 10-8 in a match tiebreaker in the first semifinal, in what was probably the best match of an event that was overhauled this year. They trailed 8-4 in the tiebreaker after Swiatek double-faulted, then ran off six straight points to advance.

Errani and Vavassori then beat Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison 4-2, 4-2.

After a short break, the finalists would be back on the court to wrap up an event that was completed over two days, well before singles play starts Sunday.

Both teams won two matches Tuesday to earn spots in the semifinals that were played under a closed roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium after rain fell much of the afternoon.

Errani and Vavassori weren’t even sure they would get to defend their titles after the US Tennis Association radically changed the mixed doubles tournament in an effort to draw top singles players. Eight teams in the 16-team field qualified by their players’ combined singles rankings, with the remaining teams given wild cards.

The Italians — were were among the biggest critics of the changed format — were given one and have a chance to be the first repeat champions in Flushing Meadows since Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jamie Murray in 2018-19.

“I think we are on a mission,” Vavassori said.

The final will more closely resemble a traditional match, with sets to six games. They went to four games in the first three rounds, with a deciding point played at deuce instead of needing to get the next two points.