Algeria‘s Imane Khelif is facing attacks on the internet after several social media accounts spread false information about her gender following her fight against Italian boxer Angela Carini at the Paris Olympics. Khelif entered the ring on Thursday to face Carini. The match, however, ended after a mere 46 seconds because Carini said she took a punch to the nose and was in too much pain, BBC Sport reported.
Conservative social media pages in particular sparked outrage, saying Khelif is a man and she should have never been allowed to fight against Carini. While questioning Khelif’s gender, the critics resurfaced the 2023 decision from the International Boxing Association, which concluded that Khelif “failed to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition, as set and laid out in the IBA regulations,” according to BBC’s report.
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams, however, issued a statement on Friday, clarifying that Khelif has always been a woman.
“The Algerian boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport,” he said.
According to PBS News, Adams added that there has been “a lot of misinformation around on social media particularly, which is damaging.”
The IOC also released another statement on IBA’s decision earlier this week. Per PBS News, the IOC stated that it was “a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA” when Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting “were suddenly disqualified without any due process.”
Khelif continues to face hatred from conservative outlets and right-wing politicians like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who tweeted, “HE is a fraud, an imposter, and a liar.”
A real women, Angela Carini, who trained for years to box at the Olympics is “defeated” by a real man pretending to be a woman.
HE is a fraud, an imposter, and a liar.
Shame on EVERYONE who allows men to compete against women.
Democrats support this.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) August 1, 2024
On the flip side, Khelif is also receiving love and support from prominent advocates such as Gabrielle Union, who wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, “Transphobia, misogyny and good old plain racism. For many athletes, not fitting into arbitrary gender norms creates this whirling dervish of bigotry, harassment and abuse.”
Transphobia, misogyny and good old plain racism. For many athletes, not fitting into arbitrary gender norms creates this whirling dervish of bigotry, harassment and abuse. https://t.co/9FscSNmW8h
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) August 1, 2024
Carini refused to shake Khelif’s hand after the match, according to Bossip but insists she wasn’t trying to make a political statement.
“It wasn’t something I intended to do. Actually, I want to apologise to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke,” she said.
Carini has since issued an apology for how she handled herself after the match on Thursday.
“I’m sorry for my opponent, too,” she said. “If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”
Khelif defeated Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary in Saturday’s quarterfinals, advancing and guaranteeing at least a bronze medal.
On Sunday, she also put out a statement condemning bullying.
“I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects,” Khelif said in Arabic, as reported by the AP. “It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying.”
