Imane Khelif vs Angela Carini, Paris Olympics 2024: Algeria’s transgender boxer Imane Khalif sparked debate all over the world after her match in the Paris Olympics 2024. Khalifa’s opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, left the match after 46 seconds on Thursday (1 August) and said that she had never faced such powerful punches in her life. Angela’s headgear was also removed twice during the match. Angela also started crying after the match. The matter did not end here, after the match was over, Angela did not even shake hands with Khalifa.
Iman Khalifa reached the gold medal match at the Boxing World Championships last year, but was disqualified just before the match because tests claimed that her testosterone levels were elevated. But this time there is an issue of gender-equality in Paris Olympics, that is why she got entry. Khalifa is a two-time Olympian, before Paris she also participated in the Tokyo Games.
After the incident between Iman Khalifa and Angela Carini, #IStandWithAngelaCarini is trending on social media. Supporting this, Elon Musk, owner of social media platform Everyone has supported Angela Carini. Italy’s PM Georgia Meloni has also supported Angela Carini.
Italian PM’s post goes viral
Georgia Meloni wrote on social media platform X, ‘I know you will not give up, Angela. And I know that one day you will earn what you deserve through hard work and sweat. In a competition that is ultimately equal. This post of Meloni has received more than 3.7 million views.
I know you won’t give up, Angela, and I know that one day you will earn with effort and sweat what you deserve. In a finally fair competition. pic.twitter.com/bJ2GfAUTzq
— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) August 1, 2024
Georgia Meloni also met Angela Carini in Paris. This meeting took place when the Italian Prime Minister supported him and said that the fight against the Caliphate is not a fight of equals. Maloney said athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be included in women’s competitions.
IOC gave clarification on the whole matter
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) repeatedly defended the boxer’s right to compete this week. This year, for the first time, gender equality has come in Olympic boxing, in which 124 men and 124 women took part in Paris. IOC spokesman Mark Adams said on Tuesday, ‘All participants competing in the women’s category are following the competition eligibility rules.’
The IOC said it based its decision on the boxers’ eligibility on the basis of the gender-related rules that were in place at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Several sports have updated their gender-related rules in the past three years, including World Aquatics, World Athletics and the International Cycling Union.
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The IOC is in charge of boxing in Paris, as it has revoked the Olympic status of the IBA (International Boxing Association) after years of administrative problems, lack of financial transparency and several cases of corruption involving judges and referees. IBA is controlled by Chairman Umar Kremlev, who is Russian. He made Russian state-owned Gazprom its main sponsor and transferred most of the IBA’s operations to Russia. Last year, the IBA had disqualified both Ting and Khalif.