Paris Olympics 2024 Gender Row: IOC Responds Bold Following Controversy Over Algerian Boxer Imane Khalif

Paris Olympics 2024: Italian boxer Angela Carini loss against Imane Khalif sparked controversy.

On Thursday (August 1), Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned her 66 kg women's category boxing match against Algeria's Imane Khalif, handing the latter, who was banned from competing in world championships following failures in testosterone and gender eligibility tests, a win in the opening round of the Paris Olympics 2024. Algeria's Khelif won the fight within just 46 seconds after her opponent quit. A very few punches were thrown before Carini abandoned the match, which is a rare occurrence in Olympic boxing.

The win drew adverse comments from many prominent people like JK Rowling and Elon Musk who took to social media questioning the gender of Khelif. (Who Is Imane Khelif? The Algerian Boxer Sparks Gender Eligibility Debate With Controversial Win At Paris Olympics 2024)

"Could any picture sum up our new men's rights movement better? The smirk of a male who knows he's protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he's just punched in the head, and whose life's ambition he's just shattered," JK Rowling wrote on X.

Elon Musk responded to a post by Sports celebrity host Riley Gaines who said "Men don't belong in women's sports #IStandWithAngelaCarini Let's get it trending". Musk replied "Absolutely". ('Men Don't Belong In Women Sports:' Trends On Social Media After Imane Khelif Beats Angela Carini In 46 Seconds At Paris Olympics 2024)

Many such comments on social media forced the IOC to come out and back Imane Khelif. In its reply, the IOC said "All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition's eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU). As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passports."

"These rules also applied during the qualification period, including the boxing tournaments of the 2023 European Games, Asian Games, Pan American Games and Pacific Games, the ad hoc 2023 African qualifying tournament in Dakar (SEN) and two world qualifying tournaments held in Busto Arsizio (ITA) and Bangkok (THA) in 2024, which involved a total of 1,471 different boxers from 172 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), the Boxing Refugee Team and Individual Neutral Athletes, and featured over 2,000 qualification bouts," the IOC statement read.

The IOC said that the athletes in question had been subjects of an arbitrary decision by the International Boxing Association earlier. (Paris Olympics 2024: How A Boxing Match Triggered A Spar Over Gender Identity And Fair Play)

"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. These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process," the IOC said.

"According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA should "establish a clear procedure on gender testing. 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," the IOC added.

The IOC said it was committed to protecting the human rights of all athletes participating in the Olympic Games as per the Olympic Charter, the IOC Code of Ethics and the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights. The IOC further said it was saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving, the release added.