Actress Taapsee Pannu faced massive backlash for her recent remark on Imane Khelif gender row at Olympics 2024. Dig inside to know what she said! New Delhi: Actress Taapsee Pannu has opined over the ongoing gender eligibility controversy surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif at the Paris Olympics 2024. Taapsee drew parallels with her film Rashmi Rocket , which also deals with the subject of gender testing in sports.
However, she faced backlash for her statement. For the unversed, Imane Khelif and another female Olympic boxer, Lin Yu-ting, who is representing Chinese Taipei, are facing intense scrutiny about their gender and eligibility to compete with women. Taapsee Pannu on Imane Khelif gender row at Olympics 2024 In a conversation with news agency ANI, Taapsee addressed the issue.
Expressing her opinion, she said, “I played a role on that subject. I did a film called Rashmi Rocket which was about a female athlete being banned because she was detected with a high level of testosterone. So, I played this role.
I mean, we presented our views, and that’s why you know I think the beauty of the kind of films I get is sometimes I get my films to talk about the muddas (issues) that I personally believe in without making a statement outside.” She also elaborated on how her role in the film reflects the current controversy. Khelif was earlier disqualified from the 2023 world championships over gender testing.
She further questioned the criteria for disqualification based on a natural higher level of testosterone, emphasising that these biological traits are not under the control of an athlete. She added, “Our argument in the film was that there are so many athletes who are born with an edge over others. Like Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps, all these people are also born with a certain biological edge over others.
Why are they not banned? And why only someone who has a higher level of testosterone is banned?” She further remarked, “If she has taken injections for this particular competition, then, of course, it should be illegal and she should be banned. But if she is not, then by something that is not in her control, you’ve banned her. So that’s the character that I played in the film as well.
So that was my statement.” Netizens slam Taapsee Pannu However, Taapsee’s statement did not go well with the social media users, who trolled her for the same. One user wrote on X, “Taapsee, seriously? Equating Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps to Khelif’s situation is like comparing apples to rocket ships! Khelif’s debate is about gender eligibility, not doping or cheating in the traditional sense.
It’s about defining fairness in sports, not about catching cheaters. Bolt and Phelps are the gold standards of athletic integrity – clean, committed, and breaking human limits. They’ve been tested not out of suspicion, but to maintain sport’s purity.
Get a grip!” Taapsee, seriously? Equating Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps to Khelif’s situation is like comparing apples to rocket ships! Khelif’s debate is about gender eligibility, not doping or cheating in the traditional sense. It’s about defining fairness in sports, not about catching..
. — Sri Ramulu Chetty (@sriramuluchetty) August 21, 2024 . @taapsee says if Imane Khelif should be banned from women’s sports, then so should Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt for having a “biological edge” over others.
🤦🏻 I think she has the wrong perspective on this. Sports are categorized not because of gender but to reduce the..
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com/dJY4mPBtSM — The Gas Stove (@TheGasStovee) August 21, 2024 Bloody dimwit. They didn’t contest in the the women’s category. — Abhishek Dubey UP 🇮🇳 (@Abhishek_UP_) August 21, 2024 Another commented, “I think she has the wrong perspective on this.
Sports are categorized not because of gender but to reduce the difference in competitive advantage a person can have over another because of the biological edge. The biological advantage between two men is comparatively less than that between a man and a woman. ” Meanwhile, Khelif has beaten Yang Liu to win gold in women’s boxing 66 kg at the Olympics.
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