Featured Image Credit: Richard Pelham/Getty Images / Richard Pelham/Getty Images
Topics: Boxing, Olympics, Social Media, Sport, Imane Khelif
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Boxing, Olympics, Social Media, Sport, Imane Khelif
People are pointing out boxer that Imane Khelif has experienced 'nine losses' amid her Paris 2024 Olympics Games controversy.
Yesterday (1 August), Italy's Angela Carini stepped into the boxing ring at the 2024 Paris Olympics against Algeria's Imane Khelif as part of the women's 66kg category.
However, after Khelif landed her second blow, Carini decided to bow out just 46 seconds in.
The International Boxing Association (IBA) revealed that Khelif was disqualified in last year's IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi for failing a testosterone level test and despite Khelif complying with the 2024 Olympics 'eligibility and entry regulations', people are divided over whether or not the boxers were fighting on 'equal ground'.
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told Italian media, as quoted by the BBC: "It matters to be able to compete on equal grounds and, from my point of view, it was not an even contest."
However, the International Olympics Committee (IOC) released a statement explaining not only do 'all athletes participating in the boxing tournament' comply with eligibilty and entry regulations, but also 'applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU)'.
It emphasized: "Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination."
In a new statement released yesterday, the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit and IOC criticised the IBA's decision to disqualify Khelif in New Delhi last year too, calling the boxer and another athlete, Lin Yu-ting, who'd also failed the testosterone level test 'victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA'.
"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," it continued.
"Such an approach is contrary to good governance."
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams added: "These athletes have competed many times before for many years, they haven't just suddenly arrived - they competed in Tokyo."
And a Twitter user has echoed the sentiment, pointing out it's not like Khelif has won all of her matches in the past against other women, but actually has 'nine losses' to her name.
Twitter user @BackUpHangman took to the platform yesterday (1 August) to state: "People would rather spread misinformation instead of simply doing cursory research.
"The way these grifters and concern trolls are acting, you’d think Imane Khelif was just Mike Tysoning dainty women left and right.
"She has NINE losses. She was in the last Olympics and didn’t win anything! Only 11 percent of her victories are knock outs! Shes from a country where you’re not even allowed to transition if you wanted to.
"To the hateful and ignorant this doesn’t matter and they don’t know that because they found out who this was recently, and Khelif is just someone to be used in the culture war."