Olympic Boxing Controversy Rages on Ahead of Imane Khelif’s Next Bout: ‘We Will Not Take Part in a Politically Motivated Cultural War’

The Olympics‘ gender eligibility controversy surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is still swirling days after winning over Italy’s Angela Carini in a bout that lasted less than a minute.

Khelif has been accused of competing in the wrong gender category by some who have argued that she was disqualified at last year’s Women’s World Championships, along with Taiwan’s Lin Yu‑ting after they failed a gender eligibility test due to elevated levels of testosterone in their system.

Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori, whom Khelif will face later today for her next boxing match, ignited some more tensions and fury after posting a now deleted mock picture of Khelif as a Hulk-like cartoon monster looking down at a young girl on her Instagram account. The picture followed comments that she made saying that she “(doesn’t) care about the stories, what is going on the social media right now. I just want to stay focused on myself and I know why I came here. I want to get a medal from the Olympic Games. So I don’t care about anything. I will go to the ring and I will get my win.”

During today’s briefing, Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Commitee, reiterated the position of the organization with regards to its gender eligibility rules and row over Khelif’s participation in the women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics.

“Let’s be very clear, here, we are talking about women’s boxing and we have two boxers who were born as women who have been raised as women who have passports as women and who have competed for many years as women. And this is the clear definition of a woman,” said Bach, a German lawyer, former foil fencer and Olympic gold medalist.

“Here was never any doubt about them being a woman, what we see now is that some want to own the definition of who is a woman and there I can only invite them to come up with a scientific based on your definition of who is a woman and how can somebody being born raised competed and having a passport as a woman cannot be considered a woman,” he continued.

“If they are coming up with something, we are ready to listen, we are ready to to look into it. But we will not take part in a sometimes politically motivated, cultural war. And allow me to say that what is going on in this context in the social media with all this hate speech with this aggression and abuse, and fueled by this agenda is totally unacceptable,” Bach added.

When he was asked specifically about the Hungarian boxer’s comments, Bach said: “In the social media, there are not only athletes, and I will not comment on each single comment of the many million comments in the social media. What is going on there with this hate speech is unacceptable for anyone who is using hate speech.”

Asked about disinformation spread by the Russian state about this year’s boxing, Bach said: “What we have seen from the Russian side and in particular from the International Federation, from which we had to withdraw their recognition for many reasons that they have undertaken way before these games with a defamation campaign against France, against the games against the against the IOC.”

Meanwhile, the International Federation of Boxing, announced on Friday that it will reward Carini, who abandoned her match against Khelif after saying she “never felt a punch like this,” as she was an “Olympic champion.” The organization’s Russian president Umar Kremlev weighed in on the controversy and stated that “only eligible athletes should compete for safety reasons” and added that he “(doesn’t) understand why they are killing women’s boxing.”

Elsewhere, J.K. Rowling, who is known for her polarizing views on gender identity, posted a picture from the fight on X saying: “Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better?” She added that it showed 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.” Elon Musk, meanwhile, shared a post from swimmer Riley Gaines that claimed “men don’t belong in women’s sports.” The X owner co-signed the message by writing: “Absolutely.”

While celebrated for the beauty of their iconic Parisian backdrops, these Olympic Games have been the centerstage of a number of controversies, many of which opposed ultra-conservative and progressive forces. Khelif is one of several figures of these Games to have been targeted by online hate. Thomas Jolly, who created the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony and has been attacked by conservative and religious groups for a performance that appeared to mock “The Last Supper,” has filed a police complaint alleging death threats and cyber harassment. An investigation has been launched.