Olympics Gender Debate: Key Insights As Imane Khelif Gears Up For Her Next Women’s Boxing Match

 A contentious fight over who should—and shouldn’t—be allowed to compete in women’s sports is expected to spill into the weekend as outrage over the Olympic participation of boxer Algeria's Imane Khelifm, who was disqualified from last year’s World Boxing Championships after she failed a gender eligibility test, continues ahead of her second match Saturday.

Khelif is expected to face Hungarian athlete Anna Luca Hamori in the quarterfinal for the women’s 66kg weight class Saturday—the Hungarian Boxing Association said it would send letters of protest to the International Olympic Committee and Hungary's Olympic committee on behalf of Hamori, and may legally challenge Khelif's ability to participate at the Olympics.

The protest from the Hungarians comes two days after Khelif’s first opponent, Angela Carini, withdrew from their match after a punch to the nose.

Carini cried after the match and she would not pass judgment on the matter of her opponent’s eligibility, according to the Associated Press, and told reporters she had never felt a punch like one of the strikes she sustained from Khelif.

On Friday, though, Carini said she wished she could go back and change how she handled the moments after the fight and "wants to apologize" for not shaking Khelif’s hand after the match.

Khelif’s participation at the Olympics has been a subject of intense scrutiny after she was barred from participating in the 2023 International Boxing Association’s World Boxing Championships because she failed to meet eligibility requirements for the women’s competition, though the International Olympic Committee has defended her right to compete in the Paris games.

The IBA said in a statement she was not subject to a testosterone exam for the World Boxing Championships and was instead put through a separate test that found she had competitive advantages over other women athletes.

The IBA, which is not recognized by the IOC, has said the specifics of the test are confidential—though IBA president Umar Kremlev alleged to Russian news agency TASS last year Khelif had XY chromosomes—a pair of chromosomes typically possessed by men.

The outcome of the match with Carini, and Khelif’s background, provoked criticism against the Algerian boxer, including scrutiny from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who said “athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women's competitions," according to Sky News, noting the prohibition should be done not to discriminate against anyone, “but to protect the right of female athletes to be able to compete on equal terms."

Similar criticism was also launched by right-wing figures in the U.S., including former President Donald Trump, his running mate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and billionaire Elon Musk, while “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling blasted the Olympics as “a misogynist sporting establishment.”

Despite the letters of protest, Hamori says she will accept the fight against Khelif. Hamori told Associated Press she does not care about the social media row regarding Khelif’s presence at the Olympics, adding, “If she or he is a man, it will be a bigger victory for me if I win.” The match will start at 11:22 a.m. EDT on Saturday.

Khelif is legally a female and is identified as such on her passport, according to multiple outlets. Mark Adams, the International Olympic Committee’s chief spokesman, told The New York Times that Khelif is not a transgender athlete, and Adams noted everyone competing in the Olympics’ women’s category has complied with competition eligibility rules. Khelif appealed and called her disqualification from the IBA’s World Boxing Championships last year a “big conspiracy,” according to NBC News. The IBA said its decision to disqualify Khelif was “extremely important and necessary to uphold the level of fairness and utmost integrity of the competition.” Khelif later withdrew her appeal. The Algerian fighter has competed as a woman throughout her career and also participated in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, losing in the quarterfinals against Irish boxer Kellie Harrington in a unanimous decision. Boxing at the Olympics is just the latest women’s sport to become a battleground over gender identity issues, as some critics have argued participation should be limited to people whose biological sex is female at birth. The New York Times reported that intersex athletes, or those with some biologically male characteristics and some female, have also been a focal point of the debate.

Khelif is not the only female Olympic boxer to have stirred up controversy in Paris. Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu Ting was also disqualified from last year’s World Championships over a disputed gender test. She won her first match against Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova on Friday in a much tighter match than Khelif's, and will face off against Svetlana Staneva of Bulgaria on Sunday. Her first victory was met with cheers and boos from the audience, The Washington Post reported, and prompted USA Boxing Executive Director Mike McAtee to speak up in her defense.

The IOC stood by Khelif’s inclusion, saying in a statement that did not explicitly name the boxer that “two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA,” likely referencing Khelif and Yu-Ting. Algerian national team soccer player ​​Ismaël Bennacer expressed support for Khelif in a tweet, saying she is “suffering a wave of unjustified hatred” and that her “presence at the Olympic Games is simply the result of her talent and hard work.” Boxer Amy Broadhurst, who beat Khelif in the 2022 IBA World Championships, has supported her former opponent. “Personally I don't think she has done anything to 'cheat,'” Broadhurst wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I (think) it's the way she was born & that's out of her control.” Marissa Williamson Pohlman of Australia, also a fellow boxer, said she did notice that Khelif felt particularly strong, "but you just keep fighting, though, don’t you? It’s just a part of the sport."