Nick Kyrgios reacts to controversy around Algerian boxer Imane Khelif participating in women's boxing at Paris Olympics 2024
Nick Kyrgios reacted to the controversy surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Khelif was disqualified from the World Championships last year for failing gender eligibility tests.
Imane Khelif is scheduled to take on Italy's Angela Carini in the women's 66kg boxing event on August 1. Controversy has erupted as the Algerian's disqualification from the World Championships last year in New Delhi, India, was brought to light.
Khelif was disqualified just hours before her gold medal fight against Yang Liu after failing the gender eligibility tests. According to the International Boxing Association president Umar Kremlev, the Algerian's DNA had XY chromosomes present which made her ineligible to fight.
The Olympics, however, do not come under the governance of the IBA. The IOC’s Paris 2024 Boxing Unit has deemed Khelif eligible to take part in the event. Khelif had also participated in the Tokyo Olympics in the women's 60kg event.
A video was shared on X where Khelif fought and defeated Mexican Brianda Tamara. The post was captioned:
"The Olympics now permits biological men to beat up women in the boxing ring.... How long until every Olympic medal is won by a failed male athlete?"
Aussie tennis star Nick Kyrgios remarked on the post:
"Cooked"
Khelif described her ineligibility at the Word Championships as a 'conspiracy'. She claimed the authorities had 'conspired against Algeria'.
However, Tamara took to her X account to reveal what it was like for her to be in the ring with Khelif.
“When I fought her I felt that she was out of my league, her punches hurt me a lot... I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way in my 13 years as a boxer, not even in my sparring with men. Thank God I got out of the ring that day and it’s good that they finally realized it,” Tamara wrote (translated from Spanish).
Martina Navratilova joined Nick Kyrgios in reacting to the controversy around Imane Khelif at Paris Olympics 2024
Apart from Nick Kyrgios, Martina Navratilova also took to her X account to react to the controversy surrounding Imane Khelif. Notably, there were two boxers disqualified by the IBA from the World Championships last year. Khelif and Lin Yu‑Ting of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan).
Both the boxers will be participating at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Navratilova, who is a staunch supporter of the exclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports took to X to reshare a post about the controversy. She wrote:
"Beyond unfair- this is dangerous and totally ignores what happens to women athletes.. Shame on @IOC for allowing this!"
US swimmer Riley Gaines also took to X and condemned the inclusion of both boxers at the Olympics.