Elon Musk has been criticized after weighing in on the Olympic controversy surrounding boxer Imane Khelif.
On August 1, the 25-year-old Algerian star was declared the winner in a welterweight fight after Italy's Angela Carini surrendered just 46 seconds into the match.
According to reports, a visibly upset Carini - who refused to shake Khelif's hand after the decision was announced - revealed that she felt a "strong pain" in her nose, according to Sky Sports News.
"After the second [punch] I couldn't breathe anymore. I quit to save my own life. I went to my coach and said 'enough' because it takes maturity and courage to stop. I didn't feel like fighting anymore," the boxer elaborated, per LBC.
The social media sphere has been ablaze with discussion following the match, with some questioning Khelif's gender and participation in women's boxing - even though the young athlete has been identified as a female since birth and is listed as a woman on her passport.
This intensified when Riley Gaines - a former collegiate swimmer at Kentucky - took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a post insinuating that Khelif is a male, writing: "Men don’t belong in women’s sports #IStandWithAngelaCarini."
X owner Elon Musk agreed with Gaines by quoting the post with the simple one-worded response: "Absolutely."
Read the post below:The 53-year-old Tesla mogul's post sparked uproar on the social media platform and led to many people condemning him for blatantly spreading misinformation to his 193.1 million followers.
"Imane Khelif is our Algerian pride SHE’S an excellent boxer and you should verify first before relaying wrong information," footballer Adlène Guedioura penned under Musk's tweet.
"Shame on you @elonmusk you don’t have any proof you are just following some stupid rumors and using your platform to destroy a young athlete!" a second user chimed in.
"Mr. Musk, as a leader in technology and social media, you have the power and responsibility to moderate and educate your audience about the devastating impact of such behavior. How is it that someone as intelligent and influential as you would judge a case without first informing yourself about its nature?" a third user questioned.
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The boxer's own father weighed in on the row during an interview with Sky News, showing the outlet his daughter's birth certificate to prove to viewers that she was born a girl.
"My child is a girl. She was raised as a girl. She's a strong girl. I raised her to be hard-working and brave. She has a strong will to work and to train," Omar Khelif said. "The Italian opponent she faced was unable to defeat my daughter because my daughter was stronger and she was softer."
The Olympics also stood by its decision to allow Khelif to compete in the women’s boxing competition, saying: “Everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules. They are women in their passports and it is stated that is the case, that they are female," as cited by Variety.
The 25-year-old opened up about the negative impact the furor has caused during an interview shared by The Associated Press.
“I am sending a message to all people in the world to uphold the Olympic values and the Olympic regulations and stop bullying all athletes because this bullying has big effects,” she said. “It can destroy people and kill their thoughts, their spirit, and their mind. Bullying can cause division and because of all this I am asking them to stop bullying."
Khelif said that the backlash was having a detrimental effect on her family, explaining: “I am in contact with my family two days a week and I hope they are not too deeply affected by what is happening. They are worried about me and God willing this crisis will end with a gold medal and this medal will be the best response to the critics."
Despite the debate on gender eligibility and intense online scrutiny, Khelif advanced in the competition and is now set to fight for the gold medal after defeating Thailand's Janjaem Suwannapheng on Monday (August 6).
She will face off against Yang Liu of China.
