An Algerian boxer with male chromosomes defeated an Italian boxer in an Olympic boxing match Thursday after delivering a devastating blow to her face in a brief 46-second bout.
Winning boxer Imane Khelif has XY chromosomes, according to a 2023 International Boxing Association eligibility test, which disqualified her from that year’s World Championships.
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Typically, men have XY chromosomes and women have XX chromosomes, but a person born with a disorder of sexual development can have both male and female sex characteristics.
For example, someone with Swyer syndrome may have XY chromosomes and female genitalia. Khelif has never publicly identified as transgender or disclosed any disorder of sexual development, so the reason for the test result is unclear.
Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting, who was also disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for having XY chromosomes, will also compete against women at the 2024 Olympics.
Both Khelif and Lin competed in the 2020 Olympics, before those tests were published.
Angela Carini, who lost the match against Khelif, left the ring crying and refused to shake Khelif’s hand. According to him New York Postwhile still in the ring, shouted “this is unfair.”
In a post-fight interview, Carini said he had “never been hit so hard in my life,” according to the Post. In accordance with Yahoo SportsCarini apologized to his country after the fight for lasting only 46 seconds in the fight.
“I entered the ring to fight,” Carini said, according to Yahoo. “I didn’t give up, but one blow hurt too much and then I said enough. “I leave with my head held high.”
The article also reported that Carini’s trainer, Emanuel Renzini, said after the fight that many people discouraged her from competing in the fight, telling her: “Don’t go, don’t go, please. He is a man. He is dangerous for you.”
Mary Rice Hasson, director of the Person and Identity Project at the Conservative Ethics and Public Policy Centertold CNA — EWTN News’ English agency — that a disorder of sexual development “does not make someone ‘not a man’” and that “genetics don’t lie.”
“The (International Olympic Committee) decision to allow men who identify as ‘women’ to participate in women’s sports, particularly a physically brutal sport like boxing, is unconscionable,” Hasson said. “The Italian boxer stopped the fight because she felt that her life was in danger, after being hit by the Algerian boxer in less than a minute,” she said.
Hasson said the situation “exhibits, on the world stage, the ridiculous nature of the ‘transgender’ hoax,” adding that “men and women are biologically different from conception, and sex cannot change.”
He also stated that the committee’s “sensitivity” violates “the true Olympic spirit of fair competition (and) … demeans and endangers female competitors.”
Former swimmer Riley Gaines, who competed against biologically male transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in college, said in a post on X that Olympic combat “is glorified male violence against women.”
“Call me crazy, but it seems like women don’t want to be punched in the face by a man while the world watches and applauds,” Gaines asserted.
Khelif’s next Olympic bout is scheduled for Saturday against Hungarian boxer Luca Anna Hamori. Lin’s first fight is scheduled for this Friday against Uzbek boxer Sitora Turdibekova.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.
Tyler Arnold
Tyler Arnold is a reporter for the National Catholic Register. He previously worked at The Center Square and has published in various outlets, including The Associated Press, National Review, The American Conservative and The Federalist.