Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has supported Italian boxer Angela Carini following her defeat on Thursday in the Paris Olympics 2024 by Algerian fighter Imane Khelif. The fight was cut short after 46 seconds when Carini pulled out after taking several blows to the face. After the loss, the Italian fighter broke down in tears in the center of the ring.
After the match, she did not shake hands with Khelif, who advanced her to the category quarterfinals.
Riley Gaines, an American swimmer, said on X, “Men don’t belong in women’s sports. #IStandWithAngelaCarini,” which Musk retweeted.
“Unquestionably,” Musk replied in a retweet of Gaines’ original post.
In a separate post, Musk challenged Kamala Harris to address the controversy. When an X user commented, “Kamala Harris supports this… Vote accordingly,” Musk responded, “true, or let her deny it.”
In response to Angela Carini’s loss, Prime Minister Georgian Meloni of Italy stated that the competition “was not an even contest.”.
“I told you to stop because I was having severe nasal pain. It is preferable not to continue. From the first blow, my nose began to leak (with blood),” Carini remarked.
Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 women’s world championships for allegedly failing the gender eligibility tests, but she was still allowed to compete in the Olympics.
Former female boxing champions Claressa Shields and Ebanie Bridges have criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for allowing Khelif to compete.
Despite passing the gender eligibility tests for the World Boxing Championships last year, the IOC permitted two boxers to fight in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Hours before the women’s World Championship gold medal fight in 2023, the Algerian boxer was disqualified. According to reports, Khelif was disqualified due to an elevated testosterone level in her body.