The 2024 Paris Olympics provided both entertainment and a great sense of national pride to millions, and deeply endeared many medalists and competitors alike to spectators worldwide. Unfortunately, not all of the athletes – specifically those competing in female divisions – were evaluated solely on their physical prowess, nor credited accordingly.
This was most notable in the case of Imane Khelif, a 25-year-old Algerian professional boxer, and the Games’ gold medalist in the women’s welterweight division. Italian amateur boxer Angela Carini withdrew from her second-round match against Khelif after a mere 46 seconds, saying she had never been hit so hard in her life. Many, notably businessman Elon Musk and author J.K. Rowling, were quick to target Khelif, claiming that she was transgender and biologically male. This was largely due to her appearance as an athletic woman of color and oddly enough, the extent of her strength. Frequently cited was Khelif’s 2023 disqualification from the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA)’s Women’s World Boxing Championships, which claimed that Khelif had failed “gender tests.” No such tests, positive or otherwise, have been publicized. It is also worth noting that Russia was banned from participating in the 2024 Paris Games by the International Olympic Committee, and that medical transition and gender-affirming care is currently illegal in Algeria.
Although Carini apologized to Khelif the following day via an Italian newspaper, the damage was more than done. The conspiracy that Khelif was transgender proved to be shockingly virulent, extending even to established news outlets such as The Boston Globe. It sparked questions regarding the “transvestigation” of female athletes of color, and was bitterly reminiscent of South African runner and double Olympic gold medalist (2012 and 2016) Caster Semenya undergoing forced gender testing by the World Athletic Championships in 2009. Semenya has been called intersex, but assigned female at birth, and is classified by the IAAF as a woman with DSD (differences of sexual development) – although the initial accusations made against her were based on her appearance and athletic prowess. In a similar position to Khelif, both athletically and as a victim of transphobia, was Taiwanese featherweight gold medalist Lin Yu-Ting (officially competing for Chinese Taipei), having also been disqualified by the IBA with identical lack of transparency on the organization’s part.
Another athlete facing considerable transphobia was American runner Nikki Hiltz, who identifies as nonbinary and transgender. Hiltz uses they/them pronouns and placed seventh in the women’s 1500 meter race at the Paris Olympics. The category in which Hiltz competes is that of their sex assigned at birth, and they have undergone no medical transition whatsoever. Hiltz has stated that receiving gender-affirming care such as top surgery or hormone injections would be “a dream”, but has not, in order to comply with the extremely restrictive trans-exclusionary policies of World Athletics, which oversees track and field internationally in Hiltz’s division. Additionally, there is no established non-binary racing category, forcing Hiltz to continue in women’s races as long as they compete. As soon as they retire, Hiltz has said, “I know exactly what I’m gonna do. I can take testosterone.” This begs the question: are we really all that concerned with the sanctity of women’s sports, or is it merely a thin veil for bigotry and exclusionism?
The rhetoric of “protecting women in sports” is frequently used in trans-exclusionary feminism, and perhaps more significantly used to justify the targeting and harassment of the athletes mentioned above, although it is not specific to these cases. Given its supposed promotion of women, and its attempt to create safe environments for female athletes, one cannot help but notice the deep irony at play here. Although transphobia, misogyny, and racism are often viewed separately, these events lay bare a deep connection, which intersects to harm not only transgender athletes, but all female athletes. Although three out of four athletes mentioned here do not identify as transgender, they have all suffered immensely via the disturbingly long arm of transphobia.
Sophomore Sonja Luyten is a Contributing Writer. Her email is sluyten@fandm.edu.