“Protect Our Daughters”: NFL Star Takes a Stand in Imane Khelif’s Boxing Controversy at Paris Olympics

Angela Carini could only stand for 46 seconds in the opening wrestling round against her on Thursday. Later, that victory opened the can of worms by asking questions about the gender of the champion. In the past, Imane Khelif had to go through phases where the world chased her, calling her anything except ‘a woman’. Rather, a staggering number of fans flaunted no remorse for calling her so. The verbal attack has continued at the Paris Olympics as well. And this time, Imane Khelif has found someone to support her gender. 

On August 3, Robert Griffin III shared an X post where he refuted all the claims that linked Imane Khelif to being someone who’s not a woman. Rather, Robert went one step further, commenting, “Imane Khelif is a biological woman so if you want to protect our daughters, you should protect her.” The NFL star and sports raconteur had a lot of reasons to say so.

Since the Paris Olympics, Imane Khelif has been haunted by the dictation of the International Boxing Association, which was released in 2023. In that dictation, IBA mentioned that it had been forced to suspend the Algerian boxer as she had failed the gender eligibility testing. However, the IOC has seemed in no mood to accept that dictation. It has already ridiculed the ruling by calling it, “sudden and arbitrary decision.” Furthermore, the IOC permitted Imane to compete at the greatest show on earth three years ago as well. So, from its own side, the authority has kept its mindset clear. Now the QB from the Washington Commanders has described a few facts that make the boxer, feminine. 

In his snippet shared with the tweet, RGIII said, “when Kalief was 16-year-old, she used to have to defend herself against boys in her own village because they would throw punches at her. That’s how she got into boxing.” The background story talks about her inception in boxing. Moreover, it also reveals the reason behind the 25-year-old boxer’s mental toughness in front of her opponents in the ring. Griffin further added, “This young girl is not a man competing against women. She’s a woman who’s being unfairly judged”. And because of the turn of events, she is still facing the same. 

Right now, Imane Khelif is facing the wrath of anti-trans voices who are constantly sloganeering for her ban from the Olympics. However, for them, the outspoken NFL QB has his comments sorted: “Make sure you get your facts straight before you decide to speak on or bully someone else.” RGIII might find himself cheering, with several more data points speaking on behalf of the boxer. 

Imane Khelif is not transgender, rather, she has different issues 

As the debate around Imane Khelif’s gender thickened, both GLAAD and InterACT came with the medical reports. Both organizations are pretty active in calling out issues affecting the transgender population and the children who have faced the wrath of terrorism. Nonetheless, in their published fact sheet, the organizations termed the anomaly DSD and, with that, diminished the title of being a ‘transgender athlete’. 

The DSD or Differences in S*x Development form a rare condition involving genes, hormones, and the reproductive organs. As a result, the se***l development can be different but it can never be touted as transgender. The development will just differ from the others. The condition could give birth to the XY chromosomes. Still, the feminine nature will stay dominant. As per the organizations, Imane Khelif is going through this phase only. So she is not transgender; rather, she is a female athlete. Robert Griffin III may have spoken about this kind of scientific fact that leaves almost no loose ends to raise questions. Are the critics keeping tabs on such facts?