Imane Khelif's controversial witch-hunt at Paris Olympics: An unfortunate example of how quickly misinformation can spread

Before the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics, you might have gone your entire life without having heard of one Imane Khelif. Hailing from a rural village in Algeria, the 25-year-old was not part of the crème de la crème of the boxing world. A former gold medalist at the Arab Games, the African Championships and the Mediterranean Games, Khelif was a good boxer who was not quite great.

The Algerian came in with a modest 42-9 win/loss record, fighting mostly in the welterweight and lightweight categories. Only six of those wins had been knockouts, meaning she was not exactly the hardest puncher in the sport.

The last few days in Paris, however, Khelif's life has been turned on its head. In her opener, Khelif, fighting in the 66kg category, was drawn to face Italy's Angela Carini. That was when a supposedly failed gender test at the 2023 World Championships held in New Delhi, India, came to light.

IBA's gender test and the IOC conundrum

Fighting in the welterweight division, Imane Khelif reached the semifinals of the 2023 World Championships. In the Round of 16, she beat Russian's Azaliia Amineva, and in the quarterfinal she got past Uzbekistan's Navbhakor Khamidova. In the semifinals, Khelif took on Thailand's Janjaem Suwannapheng and won the bout 5-0.

At this point, however, the IBA (International Boxing Association) stepped in, and disqualified her.

"Based on DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to trick their colleagues into posing as women. According to the results of the tests, it was proved that they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from competition," the IBA said.

What exactly the test was, the IBA never specified. But it was claimed in the report that Khelif was found to have unnaturally high testosterone levels.

Was this her first time competing at a major event, or the first time she was undergoing such testing? The answer to both of those questions is no.

Khelif, in fact, had boxed at the 2022 World Championships, where she had taken the silver medal. At the time, she didn't fail any eligibility tests.

The Algerian also participated in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, reaching the quarterfinals and losing to Kellie Harrington of Ireland. Harrington, notably, went on to win gold at the event. There was no issue raised about her testosterone levels at that time either.

That said, the fact remains that the IBA disqualified Khelif. Shouldn't a reputed organization be taken at their word in such matters? Well, not exactly.

In 2023 the IOC (International Olympic Committee) suspended the IBA, citing financial and ethical irregularities. The IOC was particularly concerned about their President Umar Kremlev, who reportedly has ties to Russian President Vladmir Putin.

After the suspension, the IOC became the governing body for boxing at the Olympics, replacing the IBA for the Paris edition. The IOC then dismissed the earlier gender eligibility test administered on Khelif, arguing that it was "arbitrary" and done "without due process."

Angela Carini's comments and the unverified transgender claims

Now comes the Angela Carini clash. Carini, a police officer in Italy, came in with an amateur win/loss record of 84-23. Only four of those wins were knockouts. Her best results were a silver finish at the 2019 World Championships (light welterweight) and at the 2019 European Championships (welterweight). In Tokyo, she had lost in the Round of 16.

Against Imane Khelif in Paris, Angela Carini lasted less than a minute. The Italian abandoned the fight after just 46 seconds, and later told the media that she couldn't breathe during the match because of the punches being thrown at her.

Carini, most importantly, said that she had "never been hit" with such powerful hits. With those words, she brought disaster on Khelif.

"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.”

Out of seemingly nowhere, clips of Khelif started doing the rounds on social media, with accompanying captions claiming she was a transgender athlete. People took up the cause of "protecting" women's sports, lamenting how "biological males" were being allowed to beat up women in the name of wokeness.

One of the biggest instigators of this claim was JK Rowling. Rowling, who has frequently argued against the inclusion of transgender people in women's spaces, considered it a 'grave injustice' to Angela Carini.

From then on, there was no stopping the juggernaut that was the misinformation campaign around Imane Khelif. Scores of people called her a biological male, while others insisted that it was proven she had XY chromosomes (when in fact, no such proof exists).

The Algerian herself has made no comments about the issue. And Carini did not explicitly accuse Khelif of being male either. The only evidence people had was a now-disqualified sanction from the IBA, which claimed that she had XY chromosomes.

Interestingly, the IBA had initially said she had high testosterone levels, but later walked back the comments, saying they never did a test for the same.

The DSD claims and what the IOC had to say

The IOC has been very clear about why they have allowed Imane Khelif to participate in the Paris Olympics, knowing full well that she was disqualified in 2023. The IOC considers her a female because she was born a female and has a female passport, and also because she passed the eligibility test conducted by them ahead of the Games.

"The Algerian boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport," IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said.

As for the IBA claim about the XY chromosomes, it is being speculated that Khelif is a woman who lives with DSD (Differences of Sexual Development), a rare genetic disorder. Under that condition, women could display XY chromosomes and have a higher testosterone level than the average female.

It is important to note, however, that there is again no proof that Khelif has DSD. Moreover, the Algerian was raised as a girl by her parents.

The aftermath of the Angela Carini fight and what lies ahead for Imane Khelif

Angela Carini, who did not even shake Imane Khelif's hands after the loss, has since apologized to the 25-year-old. Speaking to Italian media, Carini emphasized that her comments after the fight were made out of anger, and that she had never intended so much controversy to come out of her words.

"All this controversy makes me sad. I'm sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision," Carini said.

"It wasn't something I intended to do. Actually, I want to apologise to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke," she added.

While it is good to see some resolution to the issue, one cannot help but wonder if Carini's comments have come a little too late. The misinformation campaign against Khelif is not going to end because her opponent apologized. The people who have already become incensed at the idea of a transgender boxer beating a woman inside the ring are not going to calm down because of Carini's regret.

In fact, Khelif's next opponent at the Olympics - Hungary's Luca Hamouri - has started demonizing the Algerian with a series of accusations on social media. In one of the photos she shared, a woman is seen set to box against a gruesome monster. The implication is easy to understand: Hamouri is the picture-perfect stereotypical woman while Khelif, now declared transgender against her will, is the monster about to ruin her dreams.

It is the same story Rowling and other conservatives have peddled throughout this incident. The argument is that women are losing their safe spaces while 'men' are taking over them. These people have repeatedly projected transgender athletes as monsters waiting to drive women out of sports, an extension of biological men who 'cheat' their way into sporting glory.

They have continuously dehumanized Khelif, and the millions of transgender people around the world. A rallying cry intended to make women feel more protected has ended up making millions feel worse about themselves.

Finally, there is Khelif herself, a mere bystander in this controversy despite being at the very center of it. All she did was do her job -- to box well at the Olympics, the pinnacle of sport. But just because one woman said something in anger, the Algerian has had her name dragged through the mud, with no proof whatsoever.

The women who have beaten Imane Khelif inside the ring will tell you that she is nothing more than a really good boxer. Should she have to apologize for that? Is the onus on her to prove that she is not biologically male?

There has never been any evidence that she has had an unusual advantage in combat sports, so why should Khelif be expected to take all this criticism lying down? Why should she not go after the likes of JK Rowling and Martina Navratilova for the plethora of vile and disgusting comments they have brought her way?

It is possible that Khelif never truly recovers from the damage that has been done to her and her reputation. She will likely become a sidenote in the Paris Olympics history, one that gets brought up again and again every time another woman faces the same issue. How many more women are going to get their accomplishments questioned simply because they look a bit different? Simply because their features do not align with the idea of feminity that has become the standard in the West?

It is important to ask if, at this point and time, there is any solution to this at all. But it's hard to see one emerge until the attitude of the masses towards transgender people in general changes, and the constant vilification of them stops. We may not be able to truly prevent misinformation from spreading, but maybe, just maybe, we can spread enough tolerance along the way so that the misinformation that does go out leads to fewer pitchforks being raised.