"Female athletes have to suffer because of it" - NASCAR's Rick Mast blasts Olympics over women's boxing controversy
Former NASCAR driver Rick Mast criticized the Olympics over the women's boxing controversy involving Algerian athlete Imane Khelif and Italy's Angela Carini. The controversy erupted after Carini quit the match after taking a barrage of punches, sparking debate about Khelif's biological gender.
In the Round of 16 welterweight bout, Khelif defeated Carini in just 46 seconds. Carini quit the match in tears, stating that she had never been hit so hard before. The swift defeat sparked a social media storm surrounding Khelif's eligibility in women's events.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had declared Khelif eligible to compete. “We have seen in reports misleading information about female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” the IOC wrote in a statement.
Rick Mast addressed the Olympics boxing controversy on a show, giving a strong opinion on the matter. Speaking on the Rick Mast Show on Kenny Wallace's YouTube channel, the 67-year-old said:
"I guess it's because of the transgender thing, or whatever that's all about, whatever everybody wants to do, I don't give a crap. But you cannot have a guy or a male playing in women's sports against a girl. It goes past just being fair, this is not political, liberal, conservative, or democrat, this is just common sense guys." [at 2:41]
"In this case, the girls, the female athletes have to suffer because of it. No way this girl boxing yesterday in the Olympics, should have been sitting there boxing against a guy, right?"
Note: There is no proof of Imane Khelif being transgender. She was born female and identifies as a woman.
The IOC statement said "every person has the right to practice sport without discrimination." It also confirmed Khelif born as a cis woman, as declared on her passport.
Rick Mast comments on gender controversy having raised two daughters
Rick Mast and his wife Sharon are parents to three children - a male, Ricky, and twin girls Kaitie and Sarah. Mast revealed that his daughters regularly participated in different sports in high school, and praised the original Title IX legislation.
"So I have got two daughters, twin daughters. They started maybe in fifth-grade playing sports. They played softball, basketball, and volleyball and they played all through middle school, high school." he said on the above mentioned show [at 0:34]
The discourse around gender and trans athletes continues to grow in all directions, drawing opinions from all sides.