Female Boxer to Receive Prize Money after Controversial Imane Khelif Match

Although she was defeated in the quarter-finals by her Algerian opponent, the Hungarian Boxing Association considers Luca Hámori as a medal-winning competitor, writes m4sport. Therefore, the association will pay the boxer the HUF 31.35 million (EUR 78,610) bronze medal prize money according to the Hungarian Olympic Committee’s decision.

Luca Hámori, who competed in the women’s 66 kilogram weight class, finished fifth in the boxing tournament at the Paris Olympics after losing to Algerian Imane Khelif in the quarter-finals on Saturday with a unanimous score.

Hámori, who has two previous victories at the Olympics, acknowledged her opponent’s success at the results announcement and congratulated her in a sportsmanlike manner.

The Hungarian athlete achieved the most successful Olympic appearance in the last 12 years, and therefore the Hungarian Boxing Association is giving her a special reward.

The association congratulates the other members of the Hungarian team (Pylyp Akilov and Richárd Kovács) and the coaching staff, trusting that the success in Paris will provide a good basis for the successful continuation, they wrote in a social media post.

Hámori’s opponent, Algeria’s Imane Khelif, has been a constant topic of Olympic discourse in recent days, not only in Hungary but also worldwide, after her Italian opponent Angela Carini gave up the match after forty-six seconds on August 1, saying she had never been hit so hard.

Khelif and a Taiwanese boxer, Lin Yu-ting, were previously disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for sex tests during the 2023 IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. The two athletes were tested before the tournament, where they were both found to have the male XY chromosomes, according to federation president Umar Kremlev, and were therefore disqualified. However, due to tensions between the boxing association and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Olympics have not been held under the rules of the International Boxing Association since the Tokyo tournament, and the two boxers are now allowed to compete in the women’s competition under the Olympic competition rules.

The entries were approved by the IOC – the medical committee is believed to have taken a position on the matter – and the entry of Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan was also approved alongside Khelif of Algeria. IOC Honorary Member Pál Schmitt agreed with the organization’s guidelines and said: “Khelif was born a woman, she is registered as a woman in her passport, the scientific tests here, including her testosterone levels, confirm that she is competing as a woman.”

Besides the Hungarian Boxing Association, the International Boxing Association may also award prize money to Luca Hámori

The IBA is of the opinion, contrary to the International Olympic Committee, that Khelif should not be in the Olympic field. The organization will award more than USD 3 million to the top scorers.

Via m4sort, Telex, Magyar Nemzet; Featured image via MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt