A women's boxing match at the Paris Olympics has sparked global controversy over the issue of gender and women's safety in sports.
On Thursday, Italian boxer Angela Carini quit her match against Algerian opponent Imane Khelif just 46 seconds into the fight, making Khelif the victor. Carini decided to end the match for her own safety after taking two extremely hard hits to the face, and videos of her crying after the match went viral.
“This is unjust," Carini said. She also refused to shake Khelif's hand.
“I’m used to suffering,” Carini told reports after the fight. “I’ve never taken a punch like that, it’s impossible to continue. I’m nobody to say it’s illegal."
“I got into the ring to fight. But I didn’t feel like it anymore after the first minute. I started to feel a strong pain in my nose. I didn’t give up, but a punch hurt too much and so I said enough. I’m leaving with my head held high,” she said.
Carini’s coach, Emanuel Renzini, said, “Many people in Italy tried to call and tell her: ‘Don’t go please. It’s a man, it’s dangerous for you.'"
Many have weighed in on the controversy and stated that Khelif should not have been permitted to fight a woman in the Olympics after being disqualified from boxing the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi due to "elevated levels of testosterone."
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that "it also matters to be able to compete on equal grounds and, from my point of view, it was not an even contest.”
The International Olympic Committe (IOC) defended the decision to let Khelif and another boxer who was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for the same reasons compete in Paris.
"They are women on their passports, they are women who have competed in the Tokyo Olympics and have been competing for many years," IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said at a press conference.
The incident has led to confusion on social media as to Khelif's gender identity and the mistaken belief that she is transgender. "When will this madness stop? Men cannot become women," former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss tweeted.
Khelif has been diagnosed with Differences in Sex Development (DSD), a rare condition where where a person's sexual development is abnormal. Females with DSD may even have a Y chromosome in addition to elevated testosterone levels. This can give them a higher muscle mass and other advantages over women without DSD in athletic competitions.
Khelif has never hidden her condition or claimed to be transgender.
The IOC rules state that women with DSD should be allowed to compete against other women, notwithstanding their potential biological advantages, unless there are "clear fairness or safety issues." The events at the 2024 Paris Olympics has sparked a new debate over such a policy.
Khelif's next match is scheduled for Saturday.