‘Discrimination’: Truth about controversial boxer’s gender history as IOC releases telling statement

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has sparked a wave of backlash after her match with Italian Angela Carini was abandoned after just 46 seconds.

The International Olympic Committee has condemned the “abuse” hurled towards Algerian boxer Imane Khelif after her match against Italian Angela Carini was abandoned after 46 seconds.

The match has sparked a global gender storm, triggering commentary from the likes of British author J. K. Rowling and billionaire Elon Musk.

Khelif is one of two boxers who have been permitted to fight at the Olympics despite being disqualified from the women’s boxing world championships last year for failing gender eligibility tests.

The knockout punch. Picture: Getty

The match has resulted in a wave of criticism directed at Khelif – who was born female and has always identified as such. Khelif has been boxing since she was a child and has always competed in women’s categories, crashing out in the quarterfinals in the Tokyo 2020 Games.

In a strongly worded statement from the IOC, the committee denounced “abuse” levelled at the Khelif as “discrimination” and said she and fellow boxer, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting, had followed the eligibility criteria.

Imane Khelif of Team Algeria (L) and Angela Carini of Team Italy exchange punches during the Women's 66kg preliminary round match. Picture: Getty

“Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination,” the statement released on Friday morning AEST said.

“We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

“The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.

“The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving.”

The statement then went on to criticise the IBA.

Last year, Both Khelif and Yu-ting from Chinese Taipei, were tested by the IBA.

They were disqualified after IBA president Umar Kremlev said DNA tests had “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded”.

Imane Khelif of Team Algeria makes her way to the ring. Picture: Getty

For males, XY is the combination of chromosomes while XX is the combination in females.

However, the IBA didn’t want to go into more detail about how these two athletes were suddenly disqualified — citing privacy reasons.

They did say, however, the athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a “separate and recognised test” where they were found to have “competitive advantages” over other female competitors.

Both Khelif and Yu-ting have always competed in female events and lived as women their entire lives.

Khelif as a child in a photo posted by a loved one on Facebook in 2022. Picture: Facebook

Khelif posing for a school picture in childhood. Picture: Facebook

The IOC called the tests and the decision by the IBA “sudden and arbitrary”.

“Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process,” the IOC statement read.

“The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years.

“Such an approach is contrary to good governance.”

During the 48-second match, Carini took a blow to the nose before abandoning the match, sinking to her feet and crying in the ring.

Angela Carini of Italy fights back tears after the match. Picture: Getty

Algeria's Imane Khelif. Picture: Getty

She refused to shake hands with Khelif before walking out.

In a post-match interview, she said it was the physical pain of the punch that caused her to abandon the fight.

Algeria's Imane Khelif leaves after her women's 66kg preliminaries round of 16. Picture: AFP

“I am heartbroken because I am fighter, my father taught me to be a warrior,” she said.

“This time I didn’t make it. I felt too much pain in my nose, you all saw I started bleeding.”

Carini’s coach Emanual Renzini also has a furious reaction, and even labelled her opponent “a man”.

“I don’t know if her nose is broken. I have to speak with the girl,” he told reporters after the bout.

“But many people in Italy tried to call and tell her: ‘Don’t go (and fight) please: it’s a man, it’s dangerous for you’.

“She felt pain in the nose and said to me I don’t want to fight anymore.”

Angela Carini of Team Italy reacts after abandoning the Women's 66kg preliminary round match against Imane Khelif of Team Algeria in the first round on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Picture: X

Imane Khelif of Team Algeria leaves the ring. Picture: Getty

On Tuesday, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said during a news conference he feared the eligibility of both boxers would turn into “a witch hunt”.

“These boxers are completely eligible. They are women on their passports, they are women who have competed in the Tokyo Olympics and have been competing for many years,” he said.

“I think we all have a responsibility to tone it down and not turn it into a witch hunt.”

Irish boxer Amy Broadhurst - who fought Khelif and won in 2022 - weighed in on the issue on social media.

“Personally I don’t think she has done anything to ‘cheat’. I thinks it’s the way she was born that’s out of her control,” she said.

“The fact that she has been beaten by nine females before says it all.”

Originally published as ‘Discrimination’: Truth about controversial boxer’s gender history as IOC releases telling statement