Italian boxer Angela Carini forfeited her Olympic bout against Algeria’s Imane Khelif on Thursday, ending the match after just 46 seconds. Carini reportedly dropped out of the match due to “severe pain” in her nose from a flurry of punches…but questions about Khelif’s biological gender also factored into the decision.
Khelif was found to have male XY chromosomes during eligibility tests at the Women’s World Boxing Championships (WWBC) in India in 2023, leading to a disqualification. It is unclear if Khelif may be transgender or intersex. However, amid a wave of global backlash, further reports have contradicted claims that Khelif is a biological male. Rather, the boxer may be a biological female with a genetic condition that produces unnaturally high testosterone levels. This is further reinforced by the fact that gender transitions are illegal in Algeria, and Khelif’s government-issued passport lists her as female.
Khelif has also lost multiple boxing matches against female competitors in the past.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules determine gender eligibility by evaluating testosterone levels. The current rules dictate any person with less than 10 nmol/L for a one year period can compete as a woman in the Olympics.
🚨BREAKING🚨
Algeria's Imane Khelif has just beat Italy's Angela Carini in the Olympic Women's 66kg Boxing Preliminaries.
Carini forfeited the match in the first round.
Khelif was previously disqualified from a women's boxing championship for having "XY chromosomes." https://t.co/b1BcdCqMtf pic.twitter.com/SgqJU60bTu
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) August 1, 2024
Taiwan boxer Lin Yu-ting likewise failed gender eligibility testing at the WWBC. Yu-ting is set to go against Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan on Friday after losing against Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines in a bout last week.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defended Carini while speaking to the press at the Olympic Village in Paris. “We have to pay attention, in an attempt to not discriminate, that we’re not actually discriminating,” she said.
Donald Trump posted on Truth Social today, seemingly in regards to the event. He wrote, “I WILL KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS!”
In a viral post on X, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling criticizes “The smirk of a male [Khelif] who’s knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered.”
Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better? The smirk of a male who’s knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered. #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Q5SbKiksXQ
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 1, 2024
Elon Musk suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris should condemn Khelif’s participation in the fight, or otherwise tacitly admit that she supports it.
True or let her deny it https://t.co/z3OulP5eKJ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 1, 2024
Khelif will face Luca Anna Hamori of Hungary on Friday in the Women’s Boxing Welterweight quarterfinals.
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