‘Keep men out of women’s sports’: Donald Trump joins outrage at Imane Khelif’s Olympic boxing victory

Donald Trump promised to “keep men out of women’s sports” as worldwide outrage grew after the Olympic boxing bout between Italy’s Angela Carini and Algeria’s Imane Khelif, a fighter who has previously been barred from women’s competition.

The bout was hugely controversial because Khelif is understood to have male XY chromosomes. Although she was banned from the International Boxing Association world championships last year, she is permitted to fight at the Olympics, because the International Olympic Committee, which governs Olympic sports, uses different eligibility criteria.

When Khelif met Carini in their first-round welterweight contest on Thursday morning the fight lasted just 46 seconds before Carini withdrew with a suspected broken nose. The fight has heightened the controversy about athletes with abnormally high testosterone levels or other male characteristics being allowed to compete in women’s sporting categories.

As politicians and sporting figures denounced the mismatch, Trump, who is running for re-election as president of America, posted on social media: “I will keep men out of women’s sports.”

Speaking after the bout, Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, said: “I have been trying to explain for years that, when taken to the extreme, some theses risk impacting women’s rights.

“I think that athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women’s competitions. Not because we want to discriminate against anyone, but in order to protect the right of female athletes to be able to compete on equal terms”

Meloni added: “I regret it [Carini’s withdrawal] even more. I was emotional [on Wednesday] when she wrote ‘I will fight’ because the dedication, the head, the character, surely also play a role in these things.

“But then it also matters to be able to compete on equal grounds and, from my point of view, it was not an even contest.”

Carini: ‘One punch hurt too much’

Carini said that she abandoned the bout because she could tell after one punch that she was outpowered.

“I got into the ring to fight,” said the 25-year-old from Naples. “I didn’t give up, but one punch hurt too much and so I said, ‘Enough, I’m going out with my head held high.’”

Her coach, Emanuele Renzini, stressed that quitting the bout was not planned in advance. “It would have been easier not to show up, because all of Italy had been asking her not to fight for days,” Renzini said.

“But Angela was motivated and wanted to do it. Of course when she met her opponent at the draw, she said ‘it’s not fair’. But there was no premeditation here today.

“She quit after taking one punch, she told me she didn’t feel she could fight. I tried to tell her to at least get to the end of the first round so we would fight, but she wouldn’t.”

Khelif is due to compete again in the quarter-finals on Saturday afternoon. Another boxer who has previously failed gender eligibility test, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting, will make her Paris Olympics debut on Friday in the featherweight category.

Ministers hit out at Games criteria

The participation of Khelif and Lin was controversial even before Thursday’s knockout. The captain of the Australian boxing team said it was “incredibly dangerous” while one of Khelif’s previous opponents said she was simply grateful she had escaped from the ring safely.

Eugenia Roccella, Italy’s family and equal opportunities minister, said: “It is surprising that there are no certain, strict, uniform criteria at the international level, and that there can be a suspicion, and far more than a suspicion, of an unfair and potentially dangerous contest for one of the contenders at the Olympics, an event that symbolises sporting fairness”.

Andrea Abodi, the Italian sports minister, echoed those comments. “I find it difficult to understand that there is no alignment in the parameters of minimum hormonal values at an international level, which includes the European and world championships and the Olympics,” Abodi said.

“In the event that represents the highest values of sport, the safety of female and male athletes must be guaranteed, as well as respect for fair competition.”

IOC insists ‘all fighters’ meets rules

The IOC has repeatedly pointed out that the two boxers are women on their passports and their inclusion has been approved.

In a statement issued before the Khelif-Carini fight, the IOC said: “All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations.”