Donald Trump wades into Olympic boxing gender row

Donald Trump has weighed in on the Olympic boxing gender row, vowing to ‘keep men out of women’s sports’ amid backlash over Algerian fighter Imane Khelif’s brutal defeat of Italy‘s Angela Carini on Thursday.

Criticism has centered on the International Olympic Committee for allowing Khelif to face off with Carini in the women’s 66kg preliminaries after the now-banished International Boxing Association claimed she failed gender eligibility tests in 2023.

Weighing in on the furor, former US President Trump shared a video of the fight and posted on social media: ‘I will keep men out of women’s sports.’

Conservatives have joined Trump in denouncing the IOC after a dejected Carini threw in the towel after just 46 seconds as Khelif landed two devastating punches in the opening seconds.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said yesterday: ‘It is a fact that with the levels of testosterone present in the blood of the Algerian athlete the race at the start does not seem fair,’ she said , adding she has opposed the IOC’s stance ‘for years’.

‘This, from my point of view, was not a competition on equal terms,’ she added. 

A devastated Carini, 25, threw in the towel and hurled her helmet to the floor as the fight with Algerian opponent Imane Khelif was abandoned before yelling: ‘This is unjust.’ 

‘I am heartbroken. I went to the ring to honour my father. I was told a lot of times that I was a warrior but I preferred to stop for my health. I have never felt a punch like this,’ she said after the clash. 

Even though Carini said she wasn’t making a political statement about Khelif, Carini’s tearful abandonment of the bout became a worldwide sensation on social media.

Criticism of the two boxers is based partly in the policies and decisions of the IBA, which has been out of the Olympic movement since 2019 after years of IOC concerns about its leadership, integrity and financial transparency.

The IBA disqualified Khelif from its world championships last year for failing gender eligibility requirements.

‘Based on the results of DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to deceive their colleagues and pretended to be women,’ it said at the time.

‘Based on the results of the tests, it was proven that they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from the competition.’

Khelif has never identified as male, transgender or intersex, according to TIME.

The IOC – organising the Olympics – have allowed athletes like Khelif to participate in the 2024 Olympics under less strict gender eligibiliy rules than were in place for the 2021 Tokyo Games.

‘Obviously I am not going to comment on individuals,’ said IOC spokesperson Mark Adams ahead of Thursday’s fight.

‘That’s really invidious and unfair. But I would just say 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.’ 

Still, the decision to allow the fight has received broad criticism.

Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, wrote on Twitter/X: ‘Angela Carini rightly followed her instincts and prioritised her physical safety, but she and other female athletes should not have been exposed to this physical and psychological violence based on their sex.’

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling echoed Trump’s tirade on Twitter/X, writing: ‘Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better? 

‘The smirk of a male who’s 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. #Paris2024’

The post received wide criticism, with commenters stressing there is no evidence to suggest Khelif is anything other than a cisgender woman.

‘I have been trying for years to explain that some theses taken to the extreme risk impacting especially on women’s rights,’ Italian PM Giorgia Meloni said in her scathing critique of the IOC’s decision.

‘I think that athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women’s competitions.

‘And not to discriminate against anyone but to protect the right of athletes to be able to compete on equal terms.’

Meloni was joined by senior Italian politicians who have unusually expressed opinions on the match-up.

Italy’s Family Minister Eugenia Roccella and Sports Minister Andrea Abodi voiced concerns about the eligibility rules on Wednesday.

‘It is surprising that there are no certain, strict, uniform criteria at the international level,’ Roccella said.

The IOC has defended its decision, confirming Khelif had ‘complied’ with regulations and saying in a statement: ‘As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport.’

‘These athletes have competed many times before for many years, they haven’t just suddenly arrived – they competed in Tokyo,’ said its spokesperson. 

The IOC also hit out at the IBA, claiming it changed its rules during the 2023 World Championships.

‘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.’ 

IBA chief executive Chris Roberts told the BBC that Khelif and fellow athlete Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan were banned from the competition last year due to ‘ongoing concerns picked up by our medical committee’.

‘It was found that they weren’t eligible to compete as females so that’s currently where we find ourselves,’ he said, acknowledging it ‘effectively’ amounted to a ‘sex test’. 

Khelif is an accomplished amateur who won a silver medal at the International Boxing Association’s 2022 world championships. 

She has been in the spotlight since being disqualified before a gold medal match at the 2023 World Championships for failing International Boxing Association (IBA) eligibility rules that stop athletes with XY chromosomes competing in women’s events.

She was ruled eligible, however, to compete in Paris, a competition run by the International Olympic Committee.

Some sports have limited the levels of testosterone allowed for athletes competing in women’s competition, while others ban everyone who has been through male puberty.

Boxing is run by the IOC in Paris as the IBA is no longer recognised by the IOC as the global sports body following a failure to implement governance and financial reforms.

The IOC has cleared the way for Khelif as well as Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting, who lost her bronze medal at last year’s World Championships after she failed to meet the criteria for the same reason, to compete at the Games.

In an interview ahead of the Olympics, Imane Khelif revealed details of her difficult childhood, rising from selling bread on the streets of a village in Algeria to represent her nation.

‘I happened to sell bread in the street, I collected dishes and other objects to earn money and to be able to move around because I came from a very poor family.’ 

A coach turned Khelif to sport, seeing potential in her ‘physical qualities’, but she faced prejudice from a community that viewed the sport as ‘only for men’.

Khelif said it was ‘pure chance’ she fell into boxing as she had always enjoyed football. 

‘I have always loved football and I played it in my little village. My father always preferred football to boxing. 

‘But I was very good at sports in my school and my teacher encouraged me to become a boxer since I had good physical qualities and he was right,’ she said.

Khelif entered the arena on Thursday amid loud cheers from fans waving Algerian flags. 

Carini and Khelif had only a few punch exchanges before Carini abandoned the bout, an extremely unusual occurrence in Olympic boxing. 

The Italian’s headgear apparently became dislodged twice before she quit.

She went to her coach after 30 seconds to fix her headgear but after briefly resuming the fight she returned to her corner and stopped, quickly leaving the ring. 

Carini refused to shake Khelif’s hand after the decision was announced, and she cried in the ring before leaving.

‘I have always honoured my country with loyalty,’ Carini said. 

‘This time I didn’t succeed because I couldn’t fight anymore. So I put an end to the match.’ She did not immediately say why she had abandoned the contest.

Algeria’s Olympic committee (COA) on Wednesday condemned ‘baseless’ attacks on boxer Imane Khelif amid scrutiny of her participation in the Olympics after her disqualification from a tournament last year for failing a gender eligibility test.

‘COA strongly condemns the unethical targeting and maligning of our esteemed athlete, Imane Khelif, with baseless propaganda from certain foreign media outlets,’ it said in a statement.

‘Such attacks on her personality and dignity are deeply unfair, especially as she prepares for the pinnacle of her career at the Olympics.

‘The COA has taken all necessary measures to protect our champion.’