Donald Trump wades into Olympic boxing gender row as he promises to 'keep men out of women's sports'

Donald Trump has weighed in on the Olympic boxing gender row over Algerian fighter Imane Khelif's brutal defeat of Italy's Angela Carini on Thursday.

A devastated Carini, 25, threw in the towel in less than a minute and hurled her helmet to the floor as the fight with Algerian opponent Imane Khelif was abandoned before yelling: 'This is unjust.' '

'I am heartbroken. I went to the ring to honor my father. I was told a lot of times that I was a warrior but I preferred to stop for my health. I have never felt a punch like this,' she said after the clash. 

The International Olympic Committee has been facing criticism for allowing Khelifto to face off with Carini in the women's 66kg preliminaries after the now-banished International Boxing Association claimed she failed gender eligibility tests in 2023.

Reacting to the outrage, former US President Trump shared a video of the fight and posted on social media: 'I will keep men out of women's sports.'

 

The IBA disqualified Khelif from its world championships last year for failing gender eligibility requirements.

'Based on the results of DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to deceive their colleagues and pretended to be women,' it said at the time.

'Based on the results of the tests, it was proven that they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from the competition.'
Khelif has never identified as male, transgender, or intersex, according to TIME.

The IOC - organizing the Olympics - has allowed athletes like Khelif to participate in the 2024 Olympics under less strict gender eligibility rules than were in place for the 2021 Tokyo Games.

'Obviously, I am not going to comment on individuals,' said IOC spokesperson Mark Adams ahead of Thursday's fight.

'That's really invidious and unfair. But I would just say that everyone competing in the women's category is complying with the competition eligibility rules. They are women in their passports and it is stated that is the case.' 

Still, the decision to allow the fight has received broad criticism.

Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, wrote on Twitter/X: 'Angela Carini rightly followed her instincts and prioritized her physical safety, but she and other female athletes should not have been exposed to this physical and psychological violence based on their sex.'