Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won the Paris Olympics women's welterweight fight against Italy's Angela Carini on August 1 after the latter pulled out of the match following a "painful" blow to her nose. Her defeat, under just 46 seconds, has sparked a worldwide debate over gender identity and sports as the Algerian boxer has male chromosomes. Tesla boss Elon Musk and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are among those who chimed in, in support of Carini.
Khelif, 25, was disqualified before a gold medal match at the 2023 World Championships for failing International Boxing Association (IBA) eligibility rules. However, she was ruled eligible to compete in the Paris Olympics after the IOC stripped the IBA of international recognition last year over issues related to governance and finance.
According to a Reuters report, Carini was no match for her opponent's speed and longer reach, who landed four blows in the first 10 seconds and several more before a power-packed punch to her face prompted the Italian boxer to pull out of the race.
As she did so, Carini said with tearful eyes, "I have always honoured my country with loyalty… This time I didn't succeed because I couldn't fight anymore. I put an end to the match because after the second blow, after years of experience in the ring and a life of fighting, I felt a strong pain in my nose."
"You all saw my nose that started bleeding. I didn't lose tonight, I just surrendered with maturity. I am a mature woman, the ring is my life. I've always been very instinctive, but when I feel something is not going well, it's not a surrender but having the maturity to stop."
In support of Carini, Italian PM Meloni said her bout against Khelif was not a fight among equals. "I think that athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women's competitions," Meloni said.
"And not because you want to discriminate against someone, but to protect the right of female athletes to be able to compete on equal terms… it matters to be able to compete on equal grounds and from my point of view it was not an even contest," she added.
Echoing the same sentiments, Elon Musk shared a post put up by X user Riley Gaines, which read, "Men don't belong in women's sports #IStandWithAngelaCarini", and wrote, "absolutely".
Author JK Rowling too joined the debate and came out in support of Carini. She shared a picture of the duo on X and wrote, "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.”
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