Amidst much outrage, a bout took place moments ago in Paris, this at the Olympics, between trans boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria and Angela Carini of Italy. For though Khelif is said to have been born with XY chromosomes and is therefore a male – and was ejected by the IBA from the world championships last year, and not allowed to box against women – the boxer was allowed to go ahead and fight Carini today.
The “fight” was over within just 46 seconds. Khelif hit Carini with a right hand, and Carini raised her hand and had her headgear, which was dislodged by the punch, checked by her corner. When the bout resumed, Khelif landed a second right hand, and Carini again raised her glove, this time in indication of her surrender. It is being reported that Carini may have suffered a broken nose.
Falling to her knees at the conclusion of the bout, Carini was in tears, this as Khelif, after trying to console her beaten opponent, celebrated the win.
There was major controversy before today’s bout, and now, as a result of the farce many millions of people all around the world will have watched, there will be further, bigger controversy.
It had been pointed out, forcefully, and by many people from all walks of life, how dangerous it is for a biological man to be competing against a female in any sport, but especially the very, very dangerous sport of boxing. The folks at the IOC, however, allowed today’s bout to go on. Get ready for the backlash, is pretty much all we can say at this point.
While it is almost impossible not to feel a huge amount of sympathy for Carini, who worked so hard to make the Olympics, only to end up fighting an opponent with XY chromosomes. Carini flatly refused Khelif’s handshake at the conclusion of today’s bout. At least Carini was not badly hurt today, as so easily could have been the case.
https://twitter.com/ShiraDinal_/status/1818973646125158545
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