Gender equality or discrimination?

Gender equality or discrimination? | Daily Tribune

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is in the eye of a storm after it allowed a pair of “male” boxers to compete in the women’s division of the Paris Olympics.

Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei and Imane Khelif of Algeria posted contrasting wins that caused a huge black eye to the reputation of the Olympic movement.

While Lin didn’t use her power and opted to skillfully beat Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan via a unanimous decision in their women’s 57-kilogram match, Khelif was ruthless, unloading a barrage of punches early on then landing a wicked right straight that broke the nose of Angela Carini of Italy in their women’s 66-kg bout.

The next scene was iconic, something that deserves a spot in the annals of Olympic history like when Adolf Hitler led the opening of the Berlin Games in 1936 or when tracksters Tommie Smith and John Carlos of the United State raised their fists to protest racial injustice during the Mexico Games in 1968.

Carini, bruised and beaten in just 46 minutes of battle, fell down on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably with her trunks turning crimson from the blood that flowed from her nose right in the middle of the stunned North Paris Arena.

Khelif, on the other hand, was just staring blankly looking like a cold-blooded assassin who had just knocked down her target. It was mission accomplished.

Eventually, she tried to shake Carini’s hand but the puncher from Naples simply ignored her, sending a strong message that sportsmanship was still far more important than winning a gold medal.

The entire world erupted in anger over the dramatic turn of events. From Donald Trump to Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and tennis great Martina Navratilova, everyone reacted, demanding justice over the fate suffered by Carini.

After all, the lopsided setback didn’t just cost her the match — it cost her a dream.

But, does Khelif deserve all the hate? Or are we just getting carried away by the heartbreaking aftermath that seems like a scene stripped from the old Rocky movie?

Look, the 24-year-old Khelif is considered an inspiration in Algeria.

The daughter of a poor welder who worked away from home in the Sahara Desert, the Khelifs sold recycled metal scraps and couscous, the traditional North African dish, so she would have money to attend her football matches.

She eventually shifted to boxing when she was 19 and finished 17th in the 2018 World Championships in India. She competed in the same event in 2019 in Russia, where she wound up 33rd.

But she refused to give up.

The following year, she became one of the first Algerian boxers to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, elevating her to celebrity status as she successfully broke the gender barrier in her predominantly Moslem country.

Khelif joined the 2023 world championships last year. She was supposed to fight for the gold medal when the International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified her for having high levels of testosterone in her system.

Her disqualification created a stir since she was coming off a convincing win over Russian boxer Azalia Amineva. The IBA is led by Umar Kremlev, the influential Russian sports executive who brought in Gazprom as the federation’s lone sponsor.

The IOC was alarmed over the presence of Gazprom — the state-owned energy supplier — in boxing since it supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But it didn’t lift a finger since the IBA has been banned from the Olympics since 2019, with boxing in the Paris Games organized by the Boxing Integrity Unit of the IOC.

The IOC eventually found out that the gender tests done on Khelif were “extremely murky” and her disqualification might have been baseless and anchored on the political motives and selfish interests of those running the IBA.

With that, the IOC allowed Khelif to compete and redeem herself after the unfair treatment, discrimination and injustice done to her by the Russia-led boxing federation.

But now that Khelif won in lopsided fashion, the whole world is raising a howl, angry at her for displaying too much power that she acquired through years of hard work, sacrifice and perseverance since she was a little girl selling recycled metal scraps in the streets of Algiers.

Are we being fair or discriminatory?