PARIS:
The gender eligibility furore surrounding Imane Khelif’s participation in the Paris Olympics is of little concern to the Algerian boxer’s next opponent, Hungarian Luca Anna Hamori, who said she was focusing purely on the bout.
Khelif, who has been in the spotlight for failing an International Boxing Association gender eligibility test at last year’s world championships, reached the last eight when Angela Carini abandoned their bout after 46 seconds, with the Italian saying she had felt intense pain after being punched.
The Algerian was ruled eligible to compete in the boxing competition at the Paris Olympics, which is being organised by the International Olympic Committee.
Hamori beat Australian Marissa Williamson in a welterweight contest on Thursday to progress to the quarter-finals, where she will face Khelif, a silver medallist at the 2022 worlds, on Saturday.
“We didn’t spar or fight before. I don’t care about the stories or what is going on on social media right now, I just want to stay focused on myself,” Hamori said of Khelif.
“I came here to get a medal from the Olympic Games. I don’t care about anything. I will go to the ring and I will get my win. I trust my coaches and I trust myself.
“I’m not scared. Like I said, I don’t care about the story and social media.”
Asked about Carini’s decision to quit the bout, Hamori said: “It was her choice. I don’t understand. I thought every boxer’s mind is the same as mine, like they never give up, but it was her choice … I know I won’t do this, never in my life.”
Carini said she had had the “maturity to stop”, and was not judging Khelif. Khelif described the bout as difficult and said she had been preparing for the Games for eight years.
Williamson, who lost to Hamori, said Khelif should have made an attempt to clear her name – but added that other people should not be put at risk.
“If that was the allegation made against me (I would want) to prove that I was a female, and that’s obviously not what’s happening,” Williamson said.
“I think the IOC needs to take measures to ensure the safety of all athletes, not just one or two. All athletes.”
Williamson, who lost to Khelif at the Eindhoven Cup in May, added that the Algerian’s power was quite noticeable when they fought.
Asked if athletes like Khelif should be allowed to compete in women’s sport, Williamson said “the natural consequence” of having this issue was that a person should not compete at the Olympics.
“A natural consequence that you can’t put other people at risk,” she said.
