J.K. Rowling's comments spark internet firestorm over Olympian's gender

Known for her controversial views, J.K. Rowling this time took a jab at Olympian Imane Khelif, claiming that as a "man, she beats a woman in public for entertainment." Internet users quickly responded to the author.

Italian Angeli Carini decided to concede the boxing match against Algerian Iman Khelif after a powerful blow from her opponent broke her nose. The clash lasted only 46 seconds, but the discussion about what happened is heating everyone up.

J.K. Rowling spoke up, calling Imane a "cheat who bullies her opponent" after the athlete failed a gender qualification test.

Doctors from Imane's team argue that she is biologically a woman but suffers from a rare gender development disorder that causes a woman to have male chromosomes or male anatomy.

Explain why you’re OK with a man beating a woman in public for your entertainment. This isn’t sport. From the bullying cheat in red all the way up to the organisers who allowed this to happen, this is men revelling in their power over women, wrote Rowling in one of her posts.

Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better? The smirk of a male who’s knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, she raged in her next post.

Internet users defended Imane.

If you only believe in two genders that match the one assigned to you at birth, then she is not a man - wrote one user.

Classifying women as you are doing now is misogyny - added another.

Elon Musk, among others, claimed that Imane Khelif is, in fact, a man. However, MP Nadia Whittome brought another perspective to the discussion.

Serena Williams was accused of being a man when outperforming a white female. Caster Semenya was accused of being a man when outperforming a white female. Imane Khalifa was accused of being a man when outperforming a white female. Take what you want from this, wrote the member of the British Labour Party.

If Imane Khelif were such an unstoppable monster benefiting from an unfair advantage, she probably wouldn't have lost 20 per cent of her fights at the international level… and she probably would have stopped more than 8 per cent of her opponents, added another commenter.

Imane and Thai boxing champion Lin Yu-ting failed gender tests before the 2023 Women's World Boxing Championships and were then disqualified. However, they were allowed to compete in Paris because the Olympic Games are governed by a different body – the International Boxing Association (IBA).