Boxer Imane Khelif, previously barred from women’s events, wins first Paris Olympics fight

A boxer whose gender identity has recently been questioned won her first fight at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.

Imane Khelif of Algeria defeated Angela Carini of Italy after Carini quit 46 seconds into the match. Carini stopped the fight after only a few punches were exchanged, avoided shaking Khelif’s hand and then fell to the floor in tears. 

Khelif’s participation in Olympic women’s boxing has been scrutinized in recent days after reports resurfaced that she and another boxer, Lin Yu‑ting of Taiwan, failed to meet gender eligibility tests at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi last year. At the time, sporting officials alleged that the boxers failed an unspecified test because they had male chromosomes.

Khelif, 25, has always competed as a woman — including during the Tokyo Olympics — and there’s no indication that she identifies as transgender or intersex, the latter referring to people born with sex characteristics that don’t fit strictly into the male-female gender binary.

Carini said she ended Thursday’s fight because she felt a “severe pain” in her nose. She added that she is not qualified to decide whether Khelif should have been allowed to compete.

“I am not here to judge or pass judgment,” Carini told reporters after the match. “If an athlete is this way, and in that sense it’s not right or it is right, it’s not up to me to decide.”

Others were less reserved.

“We have to pay attention, in an attempt to not discriminate, that we’re actually discriminating” against women, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told reporters during a visit to the Olympic Village. “In these things what counts is your dedication, your head and character, but it also counts having a parity of arms.”

Several American politicians, including former President Donald Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem also shared their views on the match.

“I WILL KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS!” Trump wrote on his social media site, Truth Social.

Khelif’s win also provoked responses from several prominent figures who are frequently criticized for their remarks on transgender people.

“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling repeatedly referred to Khelif as “male” and called the match a “brutal injustice” in a series of posts on X.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who recently drew criticism for comments he made about his estranged trans daughter, also weighed in on the matter on X, which he owns. Replying to a post that contained a video of the fight and read, “Kamala supports this…vote accordingly,” Musk, who endorsed former President Donald Trump last month, wrote: “True or let her deny it.” 

While most of the responses online appear to be critical, Khelif was not without support. 

Ismaël Bennacer, who plays soccer for the Algerian national team, was among those who defended Khelif.

“Full support for our champion Imane Khelif, who is suffering a wave of unjustified hatred,” he wrote on X. “Her presence at the Olympic Games is simply the result of her talent and hard work.”

Khelif celebrated her win on social media, sharing a photo of herself from Thursday’s fight on Instagram and writing, “first Victory.” She did not address the criticisms in the post, but she has previously called her disqualification from the world championships last year a “conspiracy.” 

In a statement shared Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee criticized the backlash directed at Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin during this year’s Olympic Games, as well as the decision by the International Boxing Association (IBA) to disqualify the two athletes from last year’s Women’s World Boxing Championships.

“The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure — especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years,” the statement said, in part. “Such an approach is contrary to good governance.”

The IOC noted in its statement that it withdrew recognition of the IBA in 2023. The severed relationship followed years of governance and financial transparency issues, as well as perceived instances of corruption.

Instead of the IBA, the IOC refers to the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit — an ad-hoc unit developed by the IOC — for its eligibility standards. In Thursday’s statement, the IOC said, “As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport.”

The Algerian Olympic and Sports Committee did not return a request for comment about the criticisms surrounding Khelif’s win.

Abderrahmane Hammad, Algeria’s minister of youth and sports, addressed concerns over Khelif’s gender identity Wednesday.

“I strongly condemn the baseless attacks on our athlete, Imane Khelif, by certain foreign outlets,” he wrote on X. “These cowardly attempts to tarnish her reputation are utterly unacceptable.”

In a series of posts on social media Thursday, the Algerian Olympic and Sports Committee celebrated Khelif’s win.

“We are proud of you and look forward to seeing you shine even more in the next stages,” one of the translated Facebook posts said.

Khelif’s next match at the Paris Olympics is against Hungary’s Luca Anna Hamori in Saturday’s women’s 66-kilogram quarterfinals.

For more from NBC Out, sign up for our weekly newsletter.