An already heated controversy over the inclusion of two boxers who had been excluded from the female category in a previous world tournament after a gender test looks set to continue after one of the contentious fighters faced off against Italy’s Angela Carini who quit after a 46-second fight in which Carini said she had “never felt a punch like this”.
Outrage has been expressed online as videos of the fight were shared, which showed Imane Khelif – who one international boxing authority says has XY chromosomes – landing ferocious punches on Carini, who said she abandoned the Olympic fight because she needed to preserve her life.
Ms Carini dropped to her knees after Khelif was announced the winner of the fight by abandonment: having called out to her coach ‘non è giusto – ‘this is unjust’.
The United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls tweeted that Ms Carini “rightly followed her instincts and prioritized her physical safety, but she and other female athletes should not have been exposed to this physical and psychological violence based on their sex.”
Oliver Brown, the Chief Sport Writer for the Telegraph said that Carini’s coach had relayed that: “Many people in Italy tried to call and tell her: ‘Don’t go please, it’s a man, it’s dangerous for you’.”
“This was the right hand from Imane Khelif that left Angela Carini unable to continue. There was blood on her shorts,” Brown wrote, adding that “a first punch from Khelif, who was thrown out of last year’s World Championships after failing biochemical tests for testosterone, dislodged Carini’s chinstrap before a second smashed against her chin and spattered blood over her shorts.”
This was the right hand from Imane Khelif that left Angela Carini unable to continue. There was blood on her shorts.
— Oliver Brown (@oliverbrown_tel) August 1, 2024
Her coach said: “Many people in Italy tried to call and tell her: ‘Don’t go please, it’s a man, it’s dangerous for you’pic.twitter.com/p01pZQMprx
Mr Brown described the fight as “one of the most shaming in Olympic history”, with other commentators calling on the International Olympics Committee to take action.
An absolute travesty at the Olympics.
— Awadh✌️ (@T_SatyamSingh) August 1, 2024
Angela Carini is forced to box against a biological male. She quits after just 45 seconds, and cries hysterically as her opponent is declared the winner.
Don't look away. This is wokeness. pic.twitter.com/LQhnpg57KL
The Algerian boxer cleared to fight at the Olympics, despite failing a gender test at the women's world boxing championships, left Italian opponent Angela Carini in tears in the ring today. The fight was abandoned after 46 seconds.@7NewsAustralia pic.twitter.com/v9BXubyUMJ
— Ashlee Mullany (@AshleeMullany) August 1, 2024
In a highly emotional interview, Angela Carini has just explained that she abandoned because she had never been punched so hard.
— RAVIRANJAN🇮🇳 (@RaviranjanID) August 1, 2024
Imane Khelif said nothing. And this is the issue that the IOC’s Mark Adams suggested everyone should just ‘dial down’.
An absolute scandal… pic.twitter.com/mgfgXAF1aC
Ms Carini, in an emotional post-fight interview said that she was “heartbroken” as she had gone “into the ring to honour my father” but that she had “never felt a punch like this”.
“I got into the ring and did my duty as a boxer and tried to fight irrespective of any controversy or anything else. I wanted to win. After the second blow to the nose, I couldn’t breathe anymore. I went to my coach and said ‘enough’ because it takes maturity and courage to stop.”
“I wasn’t able to finish the match,” the devastated boxer said. “I felt a strong pain in my nose and I said to myself that for the experience I have and the maturity as a woman that I have, that I would stop. I hope my nation won’t take it badly, I hope my dad won’t take it badly. It could have been the match of a lifetime, but I had to preserve my life as well in that moment.”
Imane Khelif said after the win: “I am here for gold. I’ll fight anyone.”
Irish boxing legend, Barry McGuigan, who was publicly critical of the decision by the IOC to let Khelif fight in the Paris Olympics said after the match : “So here is the IOC idea of fairness in the 2024 Olympic Games, shocking and unfair on Women & Girls.”
So here is the IOC idea of fairness in the 2024
— Barry McGuigan (@ClonesCyclone) August 1, 2024
Olympic Games, shocking and unfair on Women & Girls
https://t.co/8G7UxhsqYd
Advocacy group, The Countess, said that they had warned the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, in an open letter about women’s boxing, which was cosigned by women’s groups and individuals, that “a male punch is up to 160% stronger than a woman’s. There is a real risk of injury or death.”
Spokeswoman Sorcha Nic Lochlainn said “Our letter was co-signed by organisations and individuals including former Olympians and elite athletes like Martina Navratilova and Sharron Davies. We are also calling for immediate resumption of sex-screening of athletes who enter women’s competitions, a simple test that can be done by cheek swab. The IOC stopped sex testing prior to the 2000 Olympics, despite a majority of women athletes accepting the test and agreeing that the female category should remain female only. This testing could have avoided this whole situation.”
As reported by Gript, The Countess had earlier this week called for the “immediate resumption of sex testing by cheek swab ” in order to ensure the “protection of the female category at the Paris Olympics”, as controversy continued regarding two boxers in the games.
Two Olympic boxers – Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting – qualified to compete in Paris by coming through events organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Both had been disqualified from a previous world boxing event in New Delhi in March 2023 organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA) after it was claimed that testing showed they had XY chromosomes.
Nic Lochlainn said that Ireland’s Michaela Walsh is in the 57kg category with Lin Yu Tin and Gráinne Walsh is in the 66kg division with Imane Khalif. Lin and Khalif
The IBA, which governs amateur boxing, was stripped of its Olympic recognition in 2023 after the IOC said there was issues around “financial transparency” and “fairness in the appointment of judges and referees”.
The IOC has defended its decision to include the two boxers, saying that the Tokyo 2020 boxing rules (enforced at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the related qualifying tournaments) were used as a baseline to develop its regulations.”Sorcha Nic Lochlainn, sports spokeswoman for The Countess, called for sex testing at the games, saying: “Two boxers who failed sex testing by the International Boxing Association have been allowed to compete in the women’s divisions at this year’s Olympics”. She said that male competitors in a female competition would have “higher levels of testosterone and male body development.”
“It is outrageous that two athletes deemed ineligible for the Women’s World Boxing Championships in March of 2023 are now able to self-declare eligibility for the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee is on the one hand celebrating the first ‘gender equal’ Olympics and on the other undermining the very basis of
the female category. They are making a mockery of themselves.”
Mark Adams, the IOC’s spokesman, defended the decision saying: “These boxers are entirely eligible – they are women on their passports. He added that: “It’s not helpful to start stigmatising people like this. We all have a responsibility not to turn it into some kind of witch-hunt”.
In response to his statement, Barry McGuigan said that Mr Adams “wouldn’t know a left hook from a fish hook”.
The Countess said the primary issue was one of male advantage in sports. “The IOC delegated eligibility criteria for women’s sport to the individual sport governing bodies. The IBA has a female-only policy and previously disqualified the two boxers because they were found to be male. However, because the IBA are not overseeing boxing at the Paris Olympics, the IOC has set up its own unit for boxing eligibility and allowed these two male boxers enter the women’s category,” Ms Nic Lochlainn said.
“The IOC guidelines issued to individual federations around transgender inclusion suggest that there be ‘no presumption of advantage’ for males who declare they are women,” Nic Lochlainn said, “This is clearly ludicrous and has been proven over and over again to be false. Although the absolute male advantage varies by sport, it is clear that this advantage cannot be removed. Allowing males into female sport undermines the very reason for the existence of the category in the first place. It is akin to allowing twenty-year-olds to identify as under twelves. There is just no way to ever make it fair.”
“In boxing, it is clearly unsafe as well for the women who have worked so hard to qualify. A man’s punch is up to 160% more powerful than a woman’s. There could be serious injuries resulting from the IOC decision. We are calling on them to instigate immediate review and remove these boxers from the female category,” she said.
Regarding sex testing, Nic Lochlainn explained that this used to be done by a simple cheek swab, but the testing was stopped before the 2000 Olympics. She went on to say “We are calling for resumption of sex testing of all athletes who enter the female category, and the removal of any athlete that is found to be male. The category exists to allow women and girls to compete fairly and safely and should be protected.”
The IBA last night issued a statement in relation to the controversy saying that “on 24 March 2023, IBA disqualified athletes Lin Yu-ting and Imane Khelif from the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships New Delhi 2023.”
“This disqualification was a result of their failure to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition, as set and laid out in the IBA Regulations. This decision, made after a meticulous review, was extremely important and necessary to uphold the level of fairness and utmost integrity of the competition,” the statement said.
“Point to note, the athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential. This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors.”
“The decision made by IBA on 24 March 2023, was subsequently ratified by the IBA Board of Directors on 25 March 2023,” it added.
The IBA said that the disqualification was based on two tests conducted on both athletes at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul 2022 and the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi 2023.
They added that Lin Yu-ting did not appeal the IBA’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), “thus rendering the decision legally binding” – and that “Imane Khelif initially appealed the decision to CAS but withdrew the appeal during the process, also making the IBA decision legally binding”.
“Our Committees have rigorously reviewed and endorsed the decision made during the World Championships. While IBA remains committed to ensuring competitive fairness in all of our events, we express concern over the inconsistent application of eligibility criteria by other sporting organizations, including those overseeing the Olympic Games. The IOC’s differing regulations on these matters, in which IBA is not involved, raise serious questions about both competitive fairness and athletes’ safety,” they said.
However, the IOC’s spokesperson Mark Adams told the media in Paris this week that: “Everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules. They are women in their passports and it is stated that is the case”.
“They are eligible by the rules of the federation, which was set in 2016, and which worked for Tokyo too, to compete as women, which is what they are. And we fully support that,” he added.