“These girls have represented their country on numerous occasions for many, many years now as female fighters, and they do not deserve this mistreatment. I think they have been so unfortunate to even be in the situation that they’re in and to get all this scrutiny as well.”

Nicolson said that if it was so dangerous for women to be squaring off against Lin and Khelif, they would not have been routinely beaten by women throughout their careers and would be winning every event they entered.

“I feel like that says it all,” she said.

She also took aim at Carini, who has since offered Khelif an apology for her conduct and admitted she was merely “angry” because she had ended her run at the Olympics.

“I feel like the thing that happened with the Italian girl was a publicity stunt more than anything,” Nicolson said.

“I just think people really need to, like, look at the facts and stop jumping on the bandwagon. Be a lion, not a sheep.”

Another Aussie, Tina Rahimi, said she feared the speculation and discussion over Khelif and Lin’s participation at the Olympics could have implications on their mental health.

Rahimi, who competes in the same division as Lin but lost to Poland’s Julia Szeremeta on Friday, asked critics to remember that Khelif and Lin were human.

“I believe it takes a really massive toll on people’s mental health,” she added.

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“Going into a major event like this, I think it’s really unnecessary unless there are proper facts to prove that is the case.”

Asked about athletes with male XY chromosomes competing in women’s events, Rahimi said: “I don’t know where the evidence is for that. Obviously, men should be participating in men’s sport, and women should be participating in women’s sport.

“I think there’s just been a lot of talk, but there’s no proper evidence that has been provided. I feel like until there’s proper facts, people shouldn’t be really talking about it.”

With Reuters