YouTube personality-turned-professional boxer Jake Paul is walking back his previous statements about Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who’s currently participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
On Thursday (August 1), Khelif’s opponent, Italy’s Angela Carin, pulled out 46 seconds into their fight. Rumors that Khelif was actually a trans man competing in a women’s sport spread like wildfire. Conservatives including Donald Trump, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni quickly jumped on the bandwagon, expressing their outrage on social media.
Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better? The smirk of a male who’s knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered. #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Q5SbKiksXQ
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 1, 2024
Paul also chimed in, writing, “This is the purest form of evil unfolding right before your eyes. A man was allowed to beat up a woman on a global stage, crushing her life’s dreams while fighting for her deceased father. This delusion must end.”
But shortly after childhood photos of Khelif started making the rounds, which showed she was born a girl, Paul issued another tweet.
“‼️ OOPSIES ‼️” he began. “I might be guilty of spreading misinformation along with the entirety of this app. Although she’s been previously disqualified for failing a “gender test” and has XY chromosomes, some sources say Imane Khelif was born a biological woman. I stand by my sentiment that biological men should not compete against biological women in any sport and if you disagree you’re a sick f###.”
‼️ OOPSIES ‼️
I might be guilty of spreading misinformation along with the entirety of this app
Although she’s been previously disqualified for failing a “gender test” and has XY chromosomes, some sources say Imane Khelif was born a biological woman
I stand by my sentiment… https://t.co/oVfWARylCJ pic.twitter.com/S2QvHPHwWg
— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) August 1, 2024
Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing unspecified and un-transparent eligibility tests for women’s competition from the now-banned International Boxing Association (IBA). She was assigned female at birth, which it says on her passport, the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) threshold for eligibility for boxing.
Khelif and Carini exchanged a few brisk punches before the latter threw in the towel, an extremely rare occurrence in Olympic boxing. Carini didn’t shake Khelif’s hand after the exchange and instead cried and sunk to her knees in the ring.
Her actions sparked a discussion far beyond Paris about whether Khelif should have been allowed to compete after failing an unspecified gender eligibility test from the IBA. The IOC has repeatedly defended Khelf’s right to compete this week.
“Despite our requests to have certainties and guarantees, both for the safety of our athlete and for the regularity of the competition, they’ve confirmed that (Khelif) is within these parameters,” Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malagò said.
Carini later said she quit because of the pain from Khelif’s opening punches, adding that her nose bled afterward.
“My face and nose were hurting,” Carini said. “I couldn’t breathe anymore. I thought about my family, I looked at my brother in the stands and I went to my corner to retire. … I’ve never been hit with such a powerful punch.”
Of course, social media is still divided, with some labeling it nothing more than another example of misogyny, racism and transphobia. Others continue to believe Khelif shouldn’t have been allowed to compete due to previously detected high testosterone levels.
