A round of boxing lasts 3 minutes and there are three rounds each.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who failed a gender eligibility test last year, knocked out her Italian opponent in 46 seconds in the women’s 66kg boxing category and drew the ire of Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, who said the fight “was not on an equal footing”.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling reacted to the gender row during the match and said: “Explain why you are okay with a man hitting a woman in public for his entertainment.”
Italian Angela Carini was desperate, fell to her knees and sobbed in the middle of the ring after the defeat and did not shake hands with Khelif, who entered the quarter-finals of the category after the victory.
A boxing round lasts 3 minutes and there are three rounds each, but the Algerian boxer landed two strong punches, knocking out Carini in just 46 seconds. The Italian boxer was unable to stand after her nose was hit and began to bleed.
“I have a lot of pain in my nose and I said: ‘Stop’. It’s better to avoid continuing. My nose started dripping (blood) from the first blow,” said the distressed Carini.
Imane Khelif (red) x Angela Carini (blue)
Photo credit: Photo credit: AFP
The Prime Minister of Italy said: “I think that athletes with male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women’s competitions. And not because you want to discriminate against anyone, but to protect the right of female athletes to be able to compete on equal terms.”
“I was moved yesterday when she wrote ‘I will fight’ because dedication, head and character certainly also play a role in these things. point of view, it was not a balanced dispute”, added Meloni.
What is the controversy?
The International Olympic Committee has allowed two boxers, who failed gender eligibility tests for the World Boxing Championships, to be eligible to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Last year, the Algerian boxer was disqualified hours before her gold medal match at the women’s World Championships in Delhi. Algerian media reported that Khelif was disqualified for having a high level of testosterone in her system.
Taiwan’s two-time world champion Lin Yu-ting was stripped of her bronze medal in the same competition after also failing to meet the criteria.
Umar Kremlev, president of amateur boxing, told Russian news agency TASS: “DNA tests of two boxers proved that they have XY chromosomes and therefore they were excluded.” XY is the male chromosome and XX is the female.
Reem Alsalem, UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, wrote in X that “Angela Carini correctly 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 your sex.”
#Angelacarini correctly followed her instincts and prioritized her physical safety, but she and other female athletes should not have been exposed to this physical and psychological problem
Sex-based violence.— Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence against women and girls (@UNSRVAW) August 1, 2024
The World Championships were organized by the International Boxing Association (IBA) and were not recognized by the International Olympic Committee for financial transparency.
The IOC said the source of the prize money in the International Boxing Association it was not clear and is one of the reasons why they withdrew recognition from the IBA.
“The IBA was not prepared to transparently explain the sources of its financing or to explain its total financial dependence, at the time, on a single state-owned company, Gazprom,” the IOC said.
The boxing competition at the Paris Olympics is being organized by the Paris Boxing Unit (PBU), an ad hoc unit of the IOC Executive Board.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said: “Everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules. They are female on their passport and it is stated there that they are female.”
Nations support their boxers
As expected, the Algerian and Taiwanese boxers received support from their countries’ leaders. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said, “Yu-ting’s performances have inspired many Taiwanese players and united the Taiwanese people. Now that she is once again on the international stage, we must remain united and root for her.”
Alegria’s Olympic committee called it a “malicious and unethical attack directed against our illustrious athlete, Imane Khelif, by some foreign media outlets.”
The IBA, in a statement, clarified that Khelif initially appealed the IBA’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but later withdrew it during the process, making his decision legally binding.
However, Lin Yu-ting did not appeal the decision, making it legally binding.
“The IOC’s differing regulations on these issues, in which the IBA is not involved, raise serious questions about competitive fairness and athlete safety. To clarify why the IOC allows athletes with competitive advantages to compete in its events, we urge the interested parties to seek answers directly from the IOC”, the IBA said.
‘Explain why you are okay with a man hitting a woman’
Harry Potter author JK Rowling expressed her opinion on the gender dispute during the match and said, “Explain why you’re okay with a man hitting a woman in public for his entertainment. That’s not sport. Bullying is cheating. in red the organizers who allowed this to happen are men reveling in their power over women.”
Kirsty Burrows, head of the IOC Safe Sport Unit, at a press conference said: “The Paris 2024 Olympics offers the most comprehensive package of mental health and protection initiatives than any other Olympic or sporting event in history.”
A young boxer had everything she worked for and trained for stolen because you allowed a man to enter the ring with her. You are a disgrace, your ‘safeguard’ is a joke and #Paris24 will forever be stained by the brutal injustice committed to Carini. https://t.co/JMKzVljpyr
-JK Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 1, 2024
Burrows’ comments were not related to the boxing match incident, but Rowling commented and said: “A young boxer just had everything she worked for and trained for stolen because you allowed a man to get in the ring with her. disgrace, your ‘safeguard’ is a joke and Paris 24 will forever be tarnished by the brutal injustice committed to Carini.”
This story originally appeared on Ndtv.com read the full story
