Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has come out in defense of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif – whose alleged failed sex eligibility tests cast a dark cloud over the event at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
Khelif was accused of being a trans woman while she competed at the Paris games after she reportedly failed a drug test commissioned by the International Boxing Association.
Khelif denies being transgender, the International Olympic Committee called her and another competitor’s failed tests a ‘sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA’, and the IBA itself is no longer the recognized governing body for the sport at the Olympics after years and years of alleged corruption, ethical violations, and mis-governance.
Noise about Khelif got especially loud after one opponent she faced, Italian boxer Angela Carini, withdrew from her match in tears after less than a minute after being overpowered by her Algerian counterpart.
Speaking to Piers Morgan, Lemon asked a simple question of Carini: ‘Whose fault is that?
‘If you put yourself in the arena to be hit, and someone hits you hard, then whose fault is that?’ Lemon said on ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored’.
Don Lemon (R) has defended Algerian women’s boxer Imane Khelif after her 2024 controversy
Khelif has been accused of being a trans woman by the International Boxing Association
‘I’m sure whoever was in that competition understood who they were going into the ring with.
‘And if you put yourself in that competition in the middle of a ring where punches are being thrown, then you can expect to get hit hard, whether it is a man or a woman. And that’s all I have to say about that.’
Carini has claimed she’s suffered online abuse after her defeat, publishing a social media video with multiple messages about her loss.
‘Have you ever wondered how hard it was for me to face these words? What I had to endure and endure day after day?,’ a voiceover from the 26-year-old said.
‘What I had to face in my silence, while preserving my health from a stupid social network, from people who speak and say words without thinking twice?’
‘Because for them it’s just a sentence, it’s just a word, it’s just fun, it’s just wanting to follow the crowd.’
She continued: ‘For many it is easy to forget the past, but for me it wasn’t. That past that marked my life. That past that left wounds inside me that I try to heal day after day, but like an infected wound, it bleeds and hurts.
‘That past that changed and destroyed my career, built year after year with sacrifices, dedication, tenacity and a lot of passion…. That career that is underestimated and belittled by those who preferred to have a laugh for a few moments, preferred to throw the stone.’
One of Khelif’s opponents, Angela Carini, says she’s received online abuse after facing her
The president of the International Boxing Association (IBA), Umar Kremlev, has previously demanded Khelif’s Olympic gold medal to be stripped to achieve ‘transparency and openness.’ The IOC has defended the results of the games.
Khelif had previously been disqualified from the IBA for failing a gender eligibility test, which has not been published and is believed to be the only test that she has failed.
The test also came after Khelif defeated two Russian boxers at an event. The IBA has been accused of corruption and ties to the Russian government.
For years, the IOC and the IBA have been in conflict – with the IOC demanding greater transparency into the IBA’s funding and Russian ties.
For the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the IOC stripped the IBA of the right to organize the boxing events for that summer’s games. Those events were organized by an ad hoc task force.
In June of 2023, over a year before the games, the IOC Executive Board permanently stripped the IBA of its ability to organize boxing at the Olympics. The IOC set up the ‘Paris Boxing Unit’ to run the event.
The IBA, which has been found by the IOC to be a corrupt organization and was stripped of the rights to put on boxing at the Olympics since 2020, is demanding Khelif’s medal be taken away
For the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the events will be put on by World Boxing, the newly recognized international governing body for the sport.
World Boxing announced a new policy in August which introduces mandatory sex testing to ensure only biological females compete in the women’s category.
That policy includes a stipulation which will keep athletes out of any competitions pending the results of genetic testing. Khelif has appealed this.
