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Khelif wins gold, internet reaches different ‘unanimous decision’: ‘The battered women Olympics’

August 10, 2024 | | Print Article

A different sort of unanimous decision swept social media as a boxing controversy ended with a gold medal: “Good for him, really bad for actual women.”

Since kicking off at the end of July, one particular story from the 2024 Olympics has garnered pushback to rival that of the blasphemous opening ceremony. Having previously defeated Italy’s Angela Carini who’d “never felt a punch” like she had before tapping out in 46 seconds, Algeria’s reportedly XY chromosome-carrying Imane Khelif went all the way to the top of the podium with a defeat of China’s Yang Liu for gold in women’s boxing 66-kg.

After going the distance in the three-round matchup, the judges put their support behind Khelif over the reigning welterweight world champion with identical scores across the board of 30-27.

Riley Gaines, former NCAA swimmer and defender of girls and women’s sports, boiled the end result down to state Friday, “BREAKING: Imane Khelif (XY) dominated World Champion Lang Liu (XX) to win an Olympic gold medal.”

“Let me repeat that: a MALE has taken a WOMAN’S Olympic gold,” asserted Gaines. “This is what they call ‘progress.’ It’s the ultimate betrayal of fairness, safety, and women by @iocmedia.”

Prior to plowing through Carini, Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori, and Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng to reach the gold medal match, the International Olympic Committee had defended the inclusion of Khelif in the competition along with Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting.

Both had been disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2023, having failed their gender eligibility tests.

“We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” the IOC said in a statement at the beginning of August. “The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.”

“These two athletes were victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA,” the IOC went on, taking the side of the controversial inclusion and treating the athletes with male chromosomes competing in a women’s event as victims. “Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process,” and, “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. Such an approach is contrary to good governance.”

The organization had stated that to participate in the Olympics, “As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport.”

While some ideologues cheered Khelif’s victory for how they believed it would rile their opposition in the culture war, those calling for a return to reason and the defense of women’s spaces blasted the “insanity.

Kevin Haggerty
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