Trump Addresses Olympic Boxing Gender Debate, Promises to 'Keep Men Out of Women's Sports'
Donald Trump has entered the debate surrounding the Olympic boxing gender controversy following Algerian fighter Imane Khelif’s devastating defeat of Italy’s Angela Carini on Thursday.
A visibly upset Carini, 25, threw in the towel less than a minute into the match and angrily tossed her helmet to the ground as the fight against Khelif was called off. She shouted, “This is unjust,” expressing her frustration.
“I am heartbroken. I went to the ring to honor my father. I have often been told that I am a warrior, but I chose to stop for my health. I have never felt a punch like this,” Carini said after the bout.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has come under fire for allowing Khelif to compete against Carini in the women’s 66kg preliminaries, especially after the now-suspended International Boxing Association claimed she did not pass gender eligibility tests in 2023.
In response to the controversy, former President Trump shared a video of the fight on social media, declaring, “I will keep men out of women’s sports.”
The International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified Imane Khelif from its world championships last year due to her failure to meet gender eligibility requirements.
“At that time, we identified several athletes who attempted to deceive their colleagues by pretending to be women based on the results of DNA tests,” the IBA stated. “The tests revealed that these athletes have XY chromosomes, leading to their exclusion from competition.”
Khelif has never identified as male, transgender, or intersex, according to TIME.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which oversees the Olympics, has permitted athletes like Khelif to compete in the 2024 Olympics under less stringent gender eligibility rules compared to those in place during the 2021 Tokyo Games.
“I’m obviously not going to comment on individuals,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said prior to Thursday’s fight. “That’s really invidious and unfair.
However, I would like to emphasize that everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules. They are identified as women on their passports, and that is what is stated.”
Despite this, the decision to allow the fight has drawn widespread criticism.
Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, expressed her concerns on Twitter/X, stating, “Angela Carini rightly followed her instincts and prioritized her physical safety, but she and other female athletes should not have been subjected to this physical and psychological violence based on their sex.
