"It's scary how on point they are"— Internet reacts as South Park Macho Man episode goes viral after Angela Carini quits Imane Khelif bout at Olympics

After the 2024 Olympics' opening ceremony was criticized, a recent bout between Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Italian boxer Angela Carini went viral, with netizens pouring their opinions on it. The controversy reportedly broke out after Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned the bout within 46 seconds of it starting after receiving some heavy punches from her opponent.

Many users opined that the incident allegedly resembled an episode of South Park, where a character named Heather Swanson started identifying as a woman two weeks before competing in the "Strong Woman Competition."

Following the Olympic match, netizens started sharing a clip from the show where the character is seen competing in the ring with another female character. Here are some of the online reactions:

A fan reacted to the fight between Imane and Angela (Photo via @Rampahe_Calls/X)

One user wrote:

"South Park is basically an animated docuseries at this point."

"ANOTHER SOUTH PARK PREDICTION COMES TRUE," wrote another user.

"South Park’s uncanny predictions keep on coming! This situation certainly adds to the drama.🥊" read a tweet.

Several tweets were made in order to address the situation that happened at the Olympic boxing event. While some netizens criticized Imane and her participation, some came in support as well.

"I cannot find any hard data to support this person has XY chromosomes… If they have XX chromosomes then this was a legit fight and the Italian chick just got bested..." one user wrote.

"For real. the Italian girl got grazed, not even bleeding, and called the fight," read another tweet.

"We algerians 🇩🇿 fully support our boxer. Who are you to decide whether it’s a man or a woman? If he feels like a woman it’s her choice respect it," commented one user.

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What happened to Italian boxer Angela Carini at the Olympics boxing match?

Angela Carini happened to abandon the match shortly after she was in the ring fighting Algerian boxer Imane Khelif. Khelif was one of the two participants in the Olympics who were allowed in the Olympics despite not receiving a permit to play at the Women's World Championship last year after failing the gender tests.

After Carini received some heavy punches to her face, she had to abandon her match with two minutes and 14 seconds still left on the clock for the first round.

After the fight was over, Carini revealed that she had received some hard blows and punches that she had never faced before. The Guardian reported that one of Khelif's punches smashed against her chin and hurt her badly. The 25-year-old boxer later said:

"I am heartbroken. I went to the ring to honour 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 continued:

"I got into the ring to fight. 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."

Carini added that after she was punched for the second time, she knew she couldn't take it anymore and felt a strong pain in her nose. She didn't comment about Khelif's gender identity and instead mentioned that she got into the ring to win the Olympics boxing match.

Upon being asked if it would have been better if she had abandoned earlier, Angela Carini answered, that she didn't want to give up that soon. She added:

"It’s not a defeat for me, for me if you go in the ring you have already won, regardless of everything else. I’m not here to judge. It’s not up to be to say if it’s fair or not fair. I just did my job."

Meanwhile, Imane Khelif spoke to BBC, where she stated that she had just come to the Olympics "for the gold" and that she'd fight anybody. Additionally, Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni too weighed in on the incident. Meloni mentioned people with male genetic features shouldn't be allowed to compete in women's sports to ensure the rights of female athletes to compete on equal terms. She also said:

"I was emotional yesterday when she wrote ‘I will fight’ because the dedication, the head, the character, surely also play a role in these things."

The fight between the two boxers had enraged several people across the world who had further lashed out at the International Olympic Committee for approving Imane's participation in the Olympics.

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Exploring the character of Heather Swanson of South Park

According to Southpark.fandom, Heather Swanson was previously known as Blade Jaggart. Swanson became the primary antagonist in episode 7 of the 23rd season of the show. As mentioned, she began identifying as a woman a few weeks before the event.

The character had been implied as someone with more masculine features like pumped-up muscles, visible veins on the arms, a mustache, and a beard too.

In 2019, in an article published by The Hollywood Reporter, it was mentioned that the show used boxer Randy Savage to create satirical content surrounding woke culture. In the series, Swanson had been made to look and sound a lot like Savage. She said in the show:

"I’m not here to talk about my transition, I’m here to kick some f*cking a**."

This episode resurfaced on the internet after the recent controversial Olympics boxing fight between Angela and Imane Khelif at the Olympics event.