How violence against women became an Olympic sport

When Italian boxer Angela Carini stepped into the ring at the 2024 Paris Olympics, it quickly became clear that there was something off about her opponent, Imane Khelif. That’s because he is a hulking great bloke. Yet he was permitted, thanks to the incoherent policies of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), to compete against women.

Within 30 seconds of the opening bell, Khelif landed a blow so brutal it sent Carini’s chin strap flying and blood streaking down her shorts. After just 46 seconds, the fight was over. Carini dropped to her knees, sobbing. ‘I’ve never felt a punch like this’, she told reporters.

But it wasn’t just Khelif’s fists that shattered Carini’s Olympic dream – it was also the cowardice of the IOC officials and sporting bodies who monstered anyone questioning his place in the ring.

Now, nearly a year on, a newly leaked medical report shared by journalist Alan Abrahamson confirms what was always obvious: Imane Khelif is a man. A chromosome test carried out by an internationally accredited laboratory identified an XY karyotype – a male pattern. In response, he has been banned from competitions run by World Boxing.

This is now the second report that appears to confirm Khelif’s male biology. Last year, French journalist Djaffar Ait Aoudia reported that Khelif has 5-alpha reductase deficiency – a condition that only affects biological males. The test, commissioned by the International Boxing Association (IBA), led to Khelif being banned from the IBA’s women’s category, alongside Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting, who also failed a sex-eligibility test, a few months before the Paris Olympics. But instead of enforcing fairness, IOC president Thomas Bach brushed off those bans as part of a Russian-led fake news campaign. Meanwhile, the IOC’s position is, if your passport says ‘female’, that’s good enough.

As developmental biologist Dr Emma Hilton tells me: ‘Medical evidence points to Khelif being male with a disorder of sex development that provides male sporting advantage. Despite knowing this, the IOC allowed Khelif to compete in Paris 2024, ignoring the serious risks of mixing male and female boxers, and showing a heartbreaking disregard for female safety and fairness.’

Of course, anyone who hasn’t had their common sense knocked out by gender ideology didn’t need a chromosome test to spot what was plain as day. Slim-hipped, flat-chested, broad-shouldered Khelif didn’t only appear to have masculine features, he boxed like a man, too. And when he took gold in Paris, his all-male coaching team hoisted him on to their shoulders in celebration. In Algeria, where physical contact between unrelated men and women is culturally taboo, such a gesture would be unthinkable if they actually believed Khelif to be female.

The sight of a man battering his way to a women’s Olympic title was stomach-turning enough. Yet the conduct of those who enabled it was, in many ways, worse. Human-rights organisations and sports NGOs didn’t just look the other way – they also actively smeared anyone who asked questions. Amnesty International’s Stephen Cockburn claimed Khelif and Yu-ting were being ‘hounded by hatred’, framing public concern as ‘toxic, sexist and racist’. Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch dismissed sex testing as ‘abusive’ and ‘unscientific’. Meanwhile, with a characteristic lack of irony, GLAAD issued a ‘fact check’ decrying all criticism of Khelif as ‘transphobia and misinformation’. None offered a word of concern for the women in the ring.

The media, of course, played their part. From the BBC to the Associated Press, most outlets dutifully referred to Khelif as ‘she’, presenting him as a victim of conservative backlash or of a sinister Kremlin plot. Predictably, the Guardian went one further, publishing a spectacularly unhinged piece that framed concerns about Khelif punching women as the rantings of tradwives and MAGA trolls.

Perhaps the most glaring hypocrisy came from boxing pundit Steve Bunce. Last year, he said of Khelif on the BBC, ‘Despite what you’ve read in the newspapers, she has always been a she’, while condemning the IBA’s sex testing. Yet this week, he attempted a feint. He claimed he supports reliable sex tests while dismissing criticism of Khelif as a ‘witch hunt’ based on his appearance. It’s fair to say, he was bested on social media.

To be clear, Khelif is not claiming to be trans. He is simply a man with a genetic disorder. Yet last year, a legion of commentators and organisations were sure he was a woman and convinced he had been persecuted. Just as with the debates around trans participation in sport, the people who assume they know best decided women’s right to fair competition doesn’t matter.

The IOC and those complicit commentators and journalists could have listened to the women who took the punches. They could have followed the IBA’s lead. They could have used their eyes. But there was more social currency in defending the indefensible. For some supposedly kind and enlightened people, it seems that a man punching a woman in the face is a sign of progress. Their contempt for women’s sport and safety is shameful.

Jo Bartosch is a journalist campaigning for the rights of women and girls.