The Olympics ‘ gender eligibility controversy surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is still swirling days after Khelif’s victory over Italy’s Angela Carini in a bout that lasted less than a minute.
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Khelif has been accused of competing in the wrong gender category by some who have argued that she was disqualified at last year’s Women’s World Championships, along with Taiwan’s Lin Yu‑ting, after they failed a gender eligibility test due to elevated levels of testosterone in their system.
Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori, whom Khelif will face later today for her next boxing match, ignited more tensions and fury after posting a now-deleted image on Instagram of a muscular horned monster facing off against a female boxer. The picture followed comments that she made saying that she “(doesn’t) care about the stories, what is going on the social media right now. If she or he is a man, it will be a bigger victory for me if I win.”
During today’s briefing, Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Commitee, set the record straight and reiterated the position of the organization with regards to its gender eligibility rules and the debate over Khelif’s participation in the women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics.
“Let’s be very clear, here, we are talking about women’s boxing and we have two boxers who were born as a woman, who have been raised as a woman, who have a passport as a woman and who have competed for many years as women. And this is the clear definition of a woman,” said Bach, a German lawyer, former foil fencer and Olympic gold medalist.
“What we see now is that some want to own the definition of who is a woman,” said Bach.
“There I can only invite them to come up with a scientific-based, new definition of who is a woman and how can somebody being born, raised, competed and having a passport as a woman cannot be considered a woman,” he continued.
“If they are coming up with something, we are ready to listen, we are ready to to look into it. But we will not take part in a sometimes-politically motivated cultural war,” Bach added.
The executive also denounced the “hate speech with this aggression and abuse” spreading on social media and the way it’s “fueled by this agenda is totally unacceptable.”
When he was asked specifically about the Hungarian boxer’s comments, Bach said: “In the social media, there are not only athletes, and I will not comment on each single comment of the many million comments in the social media. What is going on there with this hate speech is unacceptable for anyone who is using hate speech.”
Asked about disinformation spread by the Russian state about this year’s boxing, Bach said: “What we have seen from the Russian side and in particular from the International Federation, from which we had to withdraw their recognition for many reasons that they have undertaken way before these games with a defamation campaign against France, against the games against the against the IOC.”
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Carini, who abandoned her match against Khelif after declaring she “never felt a punch like this,” has expressed regrets over the way she behaved with the Algerian boxer right after the bout. She was quoted in the Italian sports outlet Gazzetta dello Sport saying she “(wanted to) apologize” for not shaking Khelif’s hand after the game. “Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke,” she said, adding that “All this controversy makes me sad (…) I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”
Meanwhile, the International Federation of Boxing announced on Friday that it will reward Carini as if she were an “Olympic champion.” The organization’s Russian president Umar Kremlev weighed in on the controversy and stated that “only eligible athletes should compete for safety reasons” and added that he “(doesn’t) understand why they are killing women’s boxing.”
Elsewhere, J.K. Rowling, who is known for her polarizing views on gender identity, posted a picture from the fight on X saying: “Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better?” She added that it showed 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.” Elon Musk, meanwhile, shared a post from swimmer Riley Gaines that claimed “men don’t belong in women’s sports.” The X owner co-signed the message by writing: “Absolutely.”
The Paris Olympics are scoring smashing broadcast ratings and social media engagement, and have been celebrated for the beauty of their iconic Parisian backdrops , but these Olympic Games have also been plagued by a number of controversies that angered some conservative voices. Khelif is one of several figures of these Games to have been targeted by online hate. Thomas Jolly – who created the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony and has been attacked by the Catholic Church as well as from prominent conservative figures for a performance that appeared to mock Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” — has filed a police complaint alleging death threats and cyber harassment. The DJ of the ceremony, known as Barbara Butch, also filed a complaint for cyber harassment, along with Nicky Doll, a French-American drag artist best known for her involvement in RuPaul’s Drag Race, who participated in the performance on July 26. Doll, whose real name is Karl Sanchez, is suing British actor and politician Laurence Fox for his comments on the Paris Olympics opening ceremony which referred to drag performers as “deviant little pedos.”
France President Emmanuel Macron spoke out in support of Jolly on Friday while visiting an Olympic site at the Invalides, saying that “nothing justifies that an artist be threatened.” “The French were very proud of this ceremony. France gave the face of what it is — it showed its audacity and it did so with the freedom it needed,” Macron told the news outlet AFP.
Jolly has also been fiercely backed by Tony Estanguet, the gold medal-winning French slalom canoeist who presides over the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee for the Olympics and Paralympics. Estanguet said today at the briefing, “We obviously condemn without exception all of these threats, all of this harassment, that there has been towards Thomas Jolly and other different artists that were involved in the opening ceremony.”
He said the opening ceremony along the Seine “was daring, it was bold, it was difficult to pull off. And it is something that will make history until the end of time.” It was indeed the first time in modern history that an opening ceremony for the Olympic Games unfolded outdoors. “And obviously it goes without saying there is no reason for to explain or to justify the wave of criticism and the wave of harassment that showered down on the team,” he continued.
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