Angela Carini, who sobbed after winning the match that got her into the Paris Olympics, said through her tears that she was dedicating the moment to her father, who passed away just days before her debut in Tokyo. The next time she cried, the images made news around the globe. Forty-six seconds into her boxing match with Algerian Imane Khelif, who has male chromosomes but fought as a woman, she was hit so hard her knees buckled. Weeping, she gave up her dream to compete for gold, surrendering the match. "I am heartbroken," a distraught Carini told reporters afterward. "I went to the ring to honor my father. I was told a lot of times that I was a warrior, but ... I have never felt a punch like this."

Carini, whose match became an international tipping point for women's sports, spoke out this past September about the Hell she's endured for losing a competition she never should have been fighting. In a stunning video on Instagram, she shared the vile messages she's gotten since that horrible day—people calling her "a coward," "the shame of the Italy team," and even harsher abuse. Humiliated and terrorized over a dangerous situation the International Olympic Committee (IOC) forced her—and several other elite female boxers—into, Carini finally pushed back. "For many, it is easy to forget the past, but for me it wasn't," Carini continued. "That past that marked my life. That past [left] wounds inside me that I try to heal day after day, but like an infected wound, it bleeds and hurts."

She paused. "That past that changed and destroyed my career, built year after year with sacrifices, dedication, tenacity, and a lot of passion. ... That career that is underestimated and belittled by those who preferred to have a laugh for a few moments, preferred to throw the stone." Have you ever wondered, she asked, "what I had to endure day after day?"

Now, more than 15 months after that soul-crushing defeat, Carini's agony may have finally triggered the global change women's groups have been demanding for years. The IOC, now under the leadership of its first female president, Kirsty Coventry, is rumored to be on the cusp of ending this experiment with transgender sports in Olympic competition. Coventry, a two-time swimming champion from Zimbabwe, pledged when she got the job that the organization would take a serious look at the science behind the rules and make an informed decision before the next Games.

In a March interview with The Athletic, Coventry, was clear: "[I]n terms of where we go from here, the IOC needs to take a leading role. I don't think we need to redo all the work that's been done, but we can learn from the international federations, come up with a framework and set up a task force that will look at this constantly and consistently. The overarching principle must be to protect the female category," she insisted, later citing "overwhelming" and "unanimous" support for women's sports.

Earlier this month, the committee's medical and scientific director is said to have presented the initial findings of "a science-based review into transgender athletes and competitors with differences of sexual development competing in female sport." According to anonymous sources, the meeting left little doubt where the IOC would land on the issue. "They also said it was long overdue," The Athletic reported.

Based on these talks, the decision to protect women's Olympic sports would take effect early next year. Kim Jones, co-founder of one of the most outspoken groups on the issue, Independent Council on Women's Sports (ICONS), responded with one word: "Finally."

In an interview with OutKick, the All-American tennis player cheered the move. "I'm glad they're doing it," Jones reiterated, "but it's just hard to believe this was ever something that needed to be fought for." She credits the boxing controversy for making the situation impossible for the IOC to ignore. "That was a big, big breakthrough," she said of the string of women whose hopes and dreams were dashed at the hands—not just of Khelif, but another male, Lin Yu-Ting, both of whom won gold medals in their divisions, robbing legitimate female fighters of the honor.

"These are men punching women on a global stage for entertainment—the biggest global sports stage. There was a huge public outcry. ... So I think that's massive." As Jones pointed out, "I think when you get to the point where men are hitting women in the head, the absurdity is going to continue until you're like, 'Okay, somebody's got to stop this,'" she explained. "It was the snowball effect. It just kept getting bigger and bigger."

Here in the US, President Donald Trump has already weighed in, ordering the US Olympic Committee to adhere to strict male and female categories. His executive order, "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," returns our country to sanity where the international games—and nationwide teams—are concerned. Flexing the administration's muscle on the issue, Homeland Security also announced this summer that it would refuse to grant US visas to trans-identifying athletes, a resounding statement about the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

Riley Gaines, one of the most prominent voices in the fight to protect girls' sports, agreed that "sanity has prevailed." But, as far as she's concerned, "it's not enough yet." These two men, she said, referring to Khelif and Yu-Ting, "still have their gold medals. I think the next step in accountability and transparency is the IOC ultimately stripping both of these male athletes of their gold medals and giving them to the rightful female winner, as well as issuing a personalized apology to every female athlete they failed in the process."

Whether or not that happens, Angela Carini—and every woman who watched their years of training, hard work, and dedication slip through their fingers at the hands of dishonest men—can know that they did not suffer in vain. At the very least, the next crop of Olympians will know that they win or lose on talent alone. That, Jones said, is what fuels the entire movement. "There's no way I'm leaving this world to my granddaughters like this," she said, passion in her voice. "Another generation of women and girls cannot face this public abuse. It can't continue." Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

Suzanne Bowdey serves as editorial director and senior writer at The Washington Stand.

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