Pete Taylor has spoken out in response to the ongoing gender scrutiny surrounding Imane Khelif at the Paris Olympics. The father and former coach of Irish boxer Katie Taylor claims that the vilification of the Algerian athlete is a “cover up” for poor judging at the Games.
Taking to Instagram, he wrote: “Everybody is talking about this girl who is meant to be a man. At the end of the day, she was born a girl and she was boxing in the Olympics. She has been beaten by girls before in all the other competitions.
“I believe she really is a girl and I believe her controversy is being let out by the Olympic Council just to cover up bad judging that is going on,” he continued, particularly referencing the adjudicating in two matches featuring Irish boxers Daina Moorehouse and Aoife O’Rourke.
Taylor said that no one was talking about the fights; “all they are talking about is that transgender girl or seemingly transgender girl who is not a transgender girl.
“It’s just a smokescreen to cover up the terrible judging at the Olympic Games and everyone is getting carried away with it saying ‘men are beating up women’. It’s not true.”
He concluded, saying: “Every time there is boxing, nobody talks about the performance of the boxer, all they talk about is the bad judging. It’s corrupt and everybody knows it is corrupt no matter who is in charge.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about bad judging and it is just a smokescreen to cover all of that.”
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The comments came as Imane Khelif continues to face abuse and misinformation spread over her gender as she competes in the 2024 Olympics. The Algerian fighter is a woman who has never identified as male, trans or intersex.
Khelif herself responded to the false claims, saying: “I want to tell the entire world that I am a female, and I will remain a female.
“I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles, according to the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes because this thing has effects, massive effects.
“It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying,” she concluded.
Imane Khelif is through to the welterweight Olympic gold medal fight in Paris, where she will face China’s Yang Liu on Friday, August 9.
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