I am not a sports enthusiast, nor do I, am I, or have I ever watched the Olympics but this year the games have sparked my interest over recent controversy.

The first scandal I heard about was the opening ceremony. It was argued that one of the performances was a mockery of The Last Supper and some people found it offensive and inappropriate. I still have not watched the performance tbh, but I did do a little independent research and from what I can tell it wasn’t meant to emulate The Last Supper at all, it was a homage to the Olympics Greek origin and was inspired by the Greek God of Wine and Festivities and to me that made sense. I compared the photos of Dionysus (the Greek God) to Philippe Katerine (who dressed as Dionysus in the opening ceremony) and there were notable similarities so I was satisfied with that conclusion and moved on. I think it’s worth noting that I am not religious or transphobic (not that I’m implying that those two things go hand in hand), but perhaps if I were either of those two things, maybe I’d have a different opinion.

What felt like only a day or two later, my fiancé asked me if I had heard about the dude that punched a girl in the face at the Olympics and ofc I hadn’t so he explained to me that allegedly a transwoman punched another female boxer so hard in the face, she forfeited and everyone is in an uproar about it.

So I immediately went to Google to read about what happened and ended up down a rabbit role. So according to all of the sources I’ve read, Imane Khelif (25) is biologically female. She has been competing professionally in the Women’s World Boxing Championship since 2018. Her eligibility to compete had never been challenged until last year when she was disqualified by Russian IBA President Umar Kremlev, after Khelif defeated a Russian boxer. He alleged that Khelif and another female boxer, Lin Yu-Ting failed a gender eligibility test. I’ve read some sources say he claimed they had high levels of testosterone and XY chromosomes, other sources states he said that testosterone examinations weren’t conducted but that separate and recognized tests were. However, these claims have not been substantiated. More interestingly, the IBA was banished from governing boxing in the Olympics last year after a years-long dispute fueled by mismanagement, finances and the integrity of bouts and judging. According to the IOC, Khelif meets the requirements and is eligible to compete in the Olympics this year, and even despite the controversy around her fight with Angela Carini, she is not expected to be disqualified from boxing.

I personally believe that Imane Khelif is indeed biologically female. I believe that she is fit to compete unless proven otherwise. I think it’s incredibly harmful and sad that Carini’s withdrawal sparked public scrutiny (even though she’s publicly announced that her forfeit was not a political statement and that she’s actually quite sad for Khelif) and I’m sad for the children that may be struggling with questions about their gender identity or individuals that do suffer from DSD (differences of sex development) that have been negatively impacted by the hateful, transphobic rhetoric around this discussion. And I especially am sad for Imane Khelif — that rather than the world celebrating her win, they are criticizing her appearance and making assumptions about her sex.

What are your thoughts?