The IOC has confirmed that the Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting boxers participate in the women’s boxing competition as a woman
After taking several blows to the face in the opening seconds of the match, Italy’s Angela Carini quit on her opponent, Imane Khelif. The uproar around Khelif has been spurred by her critics who have mis-catered her throughout the Games.
Women’s boxing is at the center of the latest Olympics controversy as critics take issue with the participation of two athletes — Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan — who have failed gender eligibility tests in the past.
In its Thursday statement, the IOC confirmed that all athletes participating in the boxing tournament “comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations.” It said it used the Tokyo boxing rules as the baseline for this year’s regulations.
These boxers can be eligible. Mark Adams, a spokesman for the IOC, said at a news conference on Tuesday that the IOC had a responsibility to tone it down and not turn it into a witch hunt.
Author J.K. Rowling — who has been criticized for her transphobic views in recent years — falsely labeled her a man, in a tweet that has garnered over 400,000 likes. Donald Trump wrote in all caps, “I will keep men out of women’s sports!” in a video he shared on Truth Social.
Intersexuality and excessive testosterone production by female bodies have been topics of serious debate over the past few days. They poisoned a sensitive discussion around the question of whether or not trans women should be in the Olympics.
The IOC is allowing Imane Khelif to compete at the Olympics as a woman because she has always defined herself as a woman. In the face of public opinion, there is nothing to add.
They wrote that the test showed that both athletes did not meet eligibility criteria and were found to have advantages over their female competitors.
Italy’s family and sports ministers have also voiced concerns about the lack of clarity around gender eligibility criteria, suggesting that uniform international criteria would assuage “suspicion” and protect athletes’ safety.
Khelif’s gender controversy sweeping Olympic boxing: A tweet from the Hungarian president Tsai Ing-wen
Algeria’s Olympic committee is defending Khelif, issuing a statement on Wednesday condemning what it called her “unethical targeting” with “baseless propaganda.”
“Such attacks on her personality and dignity are deeply unfair, especially as she prepares for the pinnacle of her career at the Olympics,” it added, per Reuters.
Pan Men-an, secretary-general for Taiwan’s presidential office, said on social media that it is wrong for the athlete to be “subjected to humiliation, insults and verbal bullying just because of your appearance and a controversial verdict in the past.”
Taiwan’s first female president, Tsai Ing-wen wrote on X, that Lin is a fearless athlete who is unafraid in the face of challenges.
Still, the southpaw has won many other titles — including bronze in featherweight at the 2019 Women’s World Boxing Championships, gold at bantamweight in 2018 and gold in featherweight in 2022.
According to her Olympic bio, Lin joined an athletics team as a child “to achieve good results in athletics and win awards to help out financially.” In middle school, she switched to boxing.
On Friday, Lin emerged victorious in her preliminary-round fight against Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova, winning 5-0 by unanimous decision but without much fanfare in the crowd.
She said she is not scared of Khelif. But the Hungarian Boxing Association is striking a different tone: The Associated Press reported on Friday that the organization is sending “letters of protest” about the matchup to the IOC and Hungary’s own Olympic committee.
Carini quit 46 seconds into the fight after Khelif punched her in the mouth and put blood on her shorts. After she decided to pull out, she fell to her knees and refused to shake Khelif’s hand.
Source: What to know about the gender controversy sweeping Olympic boxing
What to Know About the Gender Controversy Sweeping Olympic Boxing: The Case against Khelif & Lin Yuting
The International Olympic Committee said in a statement that the current aggression against the two athletes was based on an arbitrary decision that was taken without any proper procedure.
The IOC has repeatedly defended the athletes’ right to compete in Paris, casting doubt on the process that disqualified them last year and pointing to their female legal identities.
Vlogger-turned-WWE wrestler Logan Paul also slammed Khelif as a man, tweeting that the match was “the purest form of evil unfolding right before your eyes.” He later deleted his post and wrote, “I might be guilty of spreading misinformation along with the entire app.”
“And unfortunately, as with all minefields, we want a simple explanation,” he added. Everyone wants an explanation of how they can figure it out. It doesn’t exist in the community or anywhere else.
Even if a sex test is agreed to by everyone, Adams told reporters, they don’t want to see a return to some of the scenes. He acknowledged that the situation had become difficult to navigate.
The IOC said they were sad about the abuse being received by two athletes and called for National Boxing Federations to come together so that boxing can be included in the summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Source: What to know about the gender controversy sweeping Olympic boxing
The Uzbekistan-Russian Interaction in the 2021 Olympic Games and the Status of Women in the Post-IBA Era
“They are women in their passports and it’s stated that this is the case, that they are female,” spokesperson Mark Adams told reporters earlier this week. Algeria has no right to change one’s legal gender.
Olympic officials took issue with how presidents from Uzbekistan and Russia ran the IBA, as well as the fact that its sole sponsor was a Russian state energy firm, according to the Associated Press.
In a new statement released this week, the IBA clarified that Khelif and Lin had not undergone a testosterone exam, but were “subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential.”
It is medically possible for women to have male chromosomes, in rare cases. Separately, there are a number of health conditions — most notably, polycystic ovary syndrome — that can cause women to produce excess male hormones.
IBA President Umar Krevlev told Russian state media that it was “proven they have XY chromosomes” — which is seen in men, as opposed to the XX genotype of women.
She made her first Olympic appearance at the Tokyo Games in 2021, where she lost in the quarterfinal round to Ireland’s Kellie Harrington (and didn’t face any false allegations about her gender at the time, as many of her defenders are now noting).