Fact vs Fiction: Olympic Boxer Imane Khelif Is Male and Should Not Be Allowed To Fight Women

The Left’s assault on language surrounding sex and gender has led to widespread confusion about an Olympic boxer's sex.

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About the Author

Dr. Colin Wright is the Founding Editor of Reality’s Last Stand, an evolutionary biology PhD, Manhattan Institute Fellow, and a member of The Killarney Group, the world’s leading think-tank on sex and gender. His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Times, the New York Post, Newsweek, City Journal, Quillette, Queer Majority, and other major news outlets and peer-reviewed journals. He has been a guest on popular TV shows and podcasts such as The Joe Rogan Experience, Tucker Carlson Tonight, Triggernometry, Timcast IRL, and others.

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Social media is currently ablaze with controversy over a women’s Olympic boxing match between Angela Carini of Italy and Imane Khelif of Algeria. Just 46 seconds into the fight, after receiving a barrage of powerful punches from Khelif, Carini threw the fight. The controversy isn’t about the brief duration of the fight or suspicions of a fighter doping with exogenous performance-enhancing drugs. Rather, the outcry centers on Imane Khelif, who is biologically male yet has been allowed to compete in the female category, raising serious concerns about fairness and safety.

While progressive activists generally support allowing males who identify as women to compete in women’s sports, the Left’s assault on language surrounding sex and gender has led to widespread confusion across the political spectrum. Misinformation has rapidly filled this vacuum of understanding. It appears that nobody is entirely sure what’s going on and, in the absence of clear facts, each side has opted to slide into the well-worn grooves of tribal political discourse they’re accustomed to.

The narratives from the political Right have been predictably volatile, referring to Khelif as a “man,” a “cheater,” and someone who perhaps enjoys harming and abusing women. Of course, this reaction is somewhat understandable given the rise of men being allowed to compete against women, with some, such as Fallon Fox, seeming to relish such abuse. After fracturing woman’s skull during a fight, Fox provocatively posted on social media: “And just so you know, I enjoyed it. See, I love smacking up TERFS in the cage who talk transphobic nonsense. It’s bliss! Don’t be mad.”