For years people have debated whether it’s fair for transgender women to compete against biological women in sport, considering the physical advantages that come with being born male. Well, apparently the Olympic Committee have no issue with it, having booked Algerian boxer Imane Khelif (red) to take on Italy’s Angela Carini (blue) earlier today.
There does seem to be some debate online over whether Khelif is actually transgender or not, but she did fail a testosterone and gender eligibility tests at last year’s women’s world championships and was barred from the competition.
In any case, after just 46 seconds of the fight, Carini raised her hand to stop the fight after absorbing a flurry of powerful jabs from Khelif.
Carini told her coach Emanuel Renzini that her nose hurt too much for her to continue. Her coach urged her to make it to the end of the first round, but Carini raised her hand again after taking just one more punch from Khelif and insisted that she wanted to abandon the fight.
A couple of punches to the head and it’s all over. /2 pic.twitter.com/6egSrRj51s
— FairPlayForWomen (@fairplaywomen) August 1, 2024
Carini broke down in tears after the fight, revealing to reporters that she had pulled out after after being hit harder than she had ever been hit before:
“I am heartbroken. I went to the ring to honour my father. I have never felt a punch like this.”
“After the second punch, after years of experience, I felt a strong pain in the nose. I said enough, because I didn’t want. I couldn’t finish the fight after the punch to the nose. So it was better to put an end to it.
“I am in pieces because I am a fighter, they taught me to be a warrior. I have always tried to behave with honour, I have always represented my country with loyalty. This time I didn’t manage to because I couldn’t fight any more. Regardless of the person I had in front, of me, which doesn’t interest me, regardless of all the row, I just wanted to win. I wanted to face the person that I had in front of me and to fight.”
Pressed on whether Khelif should be barred from women’s boxing, Carini responded:
“It’s not up to me to judge. I did my job.”
Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, was less diplomatic:
“I think that athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women’s competitions. 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.”
Reem Alsalem, the UN Special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, also expressed her concern:
“Angela 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.”
Angela Carini’s Olympic dreams smashed today. She breaks down in tears. /7 pic.twitter.com/CBNK2pNFo4
— FairPlayForWomen (@fairplaywomen) August 1, 2024
It’s a tough conversation because obviously we’re trying to be inclusive and sympathetic to transgender athletes and the transgender community in general, but surely this shouldn’t be at the expense of biological women and their safety and well-being in sports (again – this is with the presumption that Khelif is a transgender boxer, and not just freakishly tougher than Calini). Before the fight, the International Olympic Committee had already come under fire for permitting both Khelif and Lin Yu‑ting of Chinese Taipei to compete in the women’s category at these Games, on account of them both at least one of them being transgender.
Interestingly, both fighters were disqualified from the 2023 women’s world championships last year, with International Amateur Boxing president Umar Kremlev saying that DNA tests had “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded”. I guess they’re a bit more lax about the whole thing at the Olympics? Will be interesting to see whether today’s incident changes that going forward.
For the anti-trans MMA star who offered to fight 10 trans men in a row, click HERE. Is that happening or what?
