Both J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk criticized the Olympics for letting Algeria’s Imane Khelif compete in women’s boxing at the Paris 2024 games.
Sharing a photo from Khelif’s match against Italy’s Angela Carini, Rowling wrote on X:
“Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better? The smirk of a male who’s knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered.”
In her post, Rowling repeatedly used the wrong gender for Khelif, a cisgender woman. Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 women’s world championships because a test showed she had a Y chromosome and high testosterone levels. Musk also retweeted a post saying ‘Men don’t belong in women’s sports’ and said:
“Absolutely.”
What Did Khelif’s Opponent Say?
At the Paris Olympics, Khelif’s boxing match against Carini ended in 46 seconds when Carini quit after taking some punches. Carini was very emotional and told the BBC:
“It could have been the match of a lifetime, but I had to preserve my life as well in that moment.”
The Olympics defended their choice to let Khelif, who was born female, compete in women’s boxing, saying:
“Everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules. They are women in their passports and it is stated that is the case, that they are female.”
Carini told the press she wouldn’t criticize Khelif for being in the women’s competition, stating:
“I wish her to carry on until the end and that she can be happy. I am someone who doesn’t judge anyone. I am not here to give judgements.”
Khelif had competed in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games in the women’s division without any issues. She will fight Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori next at the Paris Olympics.
You can see their tweets below.
Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better? The smirk of a male who’s knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered. #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Q5SbKiksXQ
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 1, 2024
Absolutely https://t.co/twccUEOW9e
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 1, 2024
