Bad actors
If there’s anything that the controversy over Imane Khelif’s win over Angela Carini in the Paris Olympics showed, it’s that hindsight always offers 20/20 vision. Immediately after the 66-kilogram division bout, charges of unfair competition were leveled against the victor for her supposedly questionable sex. Never mind that she was born female, and had been competing on the distaff side since she started representing Algeria internationally in 2018. It was all that should have been relevant to underscore her eligibility, especially as the flag bearer of a Muslim nation where gender switching is illegal.
Certainly, Carini’s actions didn’t help. The Italian lasted all of 46 seconds in the ring, refusing to fight after getting clocked twice because, as she noted in her post-mortem, “I felt a severe pain in the nose, and with the maturity of a boxer, I said ‘enough,” because I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to, I couldn’t finish the match.” Well, considering how she comported herself after officially abandoning the set-to, those from the outside looking in can also contend that she said too much. It was bad enough that she refused to shake hands with Khelif at the end of the bout. She then claimed that “I’ve never been hit so hard in my life. Its up to the [International Olympic Committee] to judge is this fight was fair.”
News flash: The Round of 16 bout pushed through precisely because the IOC deemed it fair, just as the body allowed Khelif to represent Algeria in the Tokyo Games. Carini was being disingenuous at best with her cryptic remarks, leaving enough room for plausible deniability. That she then used said room to extricate herself from the fire she fueled after public sentiment went against her speaks volumes. “I’m sorry for my opponent. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision. It wasn’t something I intended to do. Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke,” she said.
Khelif has moved on, notably winning her quarterfinal round contest against Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary to ensure a medal finish in the Games. Given the degree of abuse and vitriol she withstood between her ring appearances, her triumph is nothing short of remarkable. That said, it’s also nothing short of a shame that she will remember her time under the spotlight with mixed feelings. All because an opponent dared question her, and all because keyboard warriors saw fit to cast aspersions on her being in utter disregard of facts. Winning shouldn’t be everything. Unfortunately, for bad actors, winning is the only thing.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.