To the editor: The word “magnanimous” was not used correctly in your article on gender issues in women’s Olympic boxing.
Italian boxer Angela Carini's failure to protect her face and head does not excuse her later crying and telling her team, “It's not fair,” and refusing to shake Algerian boxer Imane Khelif's hand, fuelling inaccurate and hateful claims that Khelif is transgender.
The Times's depiction of Carini as magnanimous in retracting her comments highlights the implicit bias in this whole affair: anyone who isn't white and successful must be a monster or a cheat.
Hassan Abdul-Wahid, Los Angeles
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To the editor: The obsession with Khelif is getting absurd.
In many sports, top athletes often have advantages that are a result of genetics. These advantages include:
Being very tall; having an unusually long stride when running; having a much higher pain threshold; having an unusually large lung capacity; having an abundance of fast-twitch muscle fibers. The list goes on.
Khelif was born a woman, has always boxed as a woman and has been defeated by women.
Let's stop making mountains out of molehills. There are too many truly serious problems in the world that really deserve our attention.
David Tempest, Mar Vista
