Italian Olympic boxer Angela Carini is standing with Algerian opponent Imane Khelif, a cisgender woman who faced a barrage of attacks from far-right “transvestigators” online.
Carini took to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport to issue an apology to Khelif, who defeated her in a 46-second match on Thursday, inciting attacks on the boxer who once failed a now-discredited “gender test” conducted by the International Boxing Association.
Carini, who initially refused to shake hands with Khelif, said she didn’t intend to disrespect the athlete.
“I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke,” she reportedly said, adding that she didn’t agree with the transphobic discourse launched by the defeat. “I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”
While former President Donald Trump, VP nominee JD Vance, author JK Rowling, and the rest of the far-right transphobic internet swarm pushed unsubstantiated claims against Khelif, the IOC and others quickly quashed rumors that Khelif, who was born as a woman, was transgender.
Critics of the anti-trans movement, including left-wing commentator Hasan Piker, say the incident is emblematic of the extremes that transphobic rhetoric leads to, posing threats of violence even for cisgender women.
“Transphobia is a legitimate brain disease that eventually causes people to suspect EVERYONE of being trans,” Piker wrote in a post to X. “This harms trans women AND ciswomen.”