TWO BOXERS WHO were deemed ineligible to box at the World Boxing Championships last year are competing at the Paris Olympic Games.
Both also competed at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago but their inclusion in the 2024 Games has caused a degree of controversy given they were both disqualified from the 2023 World Boxing Championships.
However, there has been considerable misinformation online claiming that the two boxers, Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, are transgender.
Neither Khelif nor Lin are men or transgender: they have never been recognised as men; nor have they ever identified as men, as transgender, or as intersex (a term which refers to people with both male and female sex characteristics).
After one of their bouts was today abandoned after 46 seconds, the controversy has gained increased attention, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni among those who shared an opinion.
Much of the controversy stems from a previous finding by an event run by a group called the International Boxing Association (IBA), whose Russian president Umar Kremlev claimed that the two were men following the event in 2023.
The International Olympic Council (IOC) has been strongly critical of the IBA’s actions, saying that this finding was “sudden and arbitrary” and taken without procedure.
They are Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting.
At the Tokyo Games three years ago, Khelif faced Ireland’s Kellie Harrington at the quarter-final stage, with Harrington beating the Algerian en route to claiming Olympic gold.
Khelif this morning advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s 66kg category after defeating Italian boxer Angela Carini.
The Algerian dispatched Carini within 46 seconds of their match, when the Italian boxer threw in the towel.
Remarkable scenes as Italian fighter Angela Carini abandons her bout with Imane Khelif after 46 seconds #RTESport #Paris2024 #boxing
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 1, 2024
📺 Watch https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7
📱Report https://t.co/G7fLeFBRfo pic.twitter.com/yVuD3tVSUw
Carini also appeared to refuse to shake Khelif’s hand and dropped to her knees in tears after the fight.
After the fight, Carini said: “I have a big pain in my nose and I said, ‘Stop’. It’s better to avoid keeping going. My nose started dripping (with blood) from the first hit.”
She added: “I fought very often in the national team. I train with my brother. I’ve always fought against men, but I felt too much pain today.”
Before Khelif’s bout this morning, Algeria’s Olympic Committee (COA) condemned what it called “malicious and unethical attacks directed against our distinguished athlete by certain foreign media”.
Lin Yu-ting meanwhile fights in the 57kg category and will compete tomorrow.
Both were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi, which was run by the International Boxing Association (IBA).
Khelif was disqualified hours before her gold-medal fight, while Lin was stripped of her bronze.
In a statement yesterday, the IBA said the “disqualification was a result of their failure to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition, as set and laid out in the IBA Regulations”.
These regulations state that only people with XX sex chromosomes can compete in women categories.
The IBA regulations add that “boxers can be submitted to a random and/or targeted gender test to confirm the above”.
Women typically have XX chromosome pairs, and men typically have XY pairs.
IBA president, Russia’s Umar Kremlev, previously said in a post to Telegram post that DNA tests had “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded”.
This detail was not included in yesterday’s statement by the IBA, which said the “specifics” of the tests undertaken by both boxers “remain confidential”.
The IBA said yesterday that the two boxers “did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognised test” and were found to have “competitive advantages over other female competitors”.
It noted that Lin did not appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and Khelif initially appealed the decision to CAS but later withdrew it.
The IBA said this makes its decision “legally binding”.
It also said differing regulations at the Olympics “raise serious questions about both competitive fairness and athletes’ safety”.
Gavin Cooney, reporter with The42 who is in Paris for the Olympic Games, told The Journal that the IOC established links between Russia and the president of the IBA, Umar Kremlev.
“When the IBA refused to jettison Kremlev and reform, the IOC withdrew their recognition of the IBA,” said Cooney.
The IBA appealed to this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport but its appeal was turned down.
“So the reason this is happening is because there are effectively two different governing bodies,” said Cooney.
The animosity between the IBA and the IOC has led people to cast doubt on the IBA’s intentions following its statement yesterday.
Tweeting today, former Irish Olympic boxer Emmet Brennan said: “The gender test came from Russian-backed IBA, who have an agenda against the Olympics for banning IBA from taking over the boxing program, so it would be hard to take what they say as gospel. Again the IOC didn’t do enough to clear this up.”
While the IBA runs the World Boxing Championships, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is running the boxing events because of governance, financial and ethical issues at the IBA.
The IOC initially withdrew recognition of the IBA – then called the AIBA – in 2019 following claims of rigged decisions at the 2016 Games in Rio.
An independent report in 2021 found over ten boxing matches at the Rio Games – including Michael Conlon’s quarter-final loss – were likely corrupt.
The 42′s Gavin Cooney said that sports at the Olympics are ordinarily governed by their own bodies and that the IOC has become the “ad-hoc governing body for boxing at the Olympics for the Tokyo and Paris Games”.
The IOC has stated that it won’t organise boxing for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles and that boxing must find its own governing body.
A group called ‘World Boxing’ was launched last April and will seek recognition from the IOC to “develop a pathway that will preserve boxing’s ongoing place on the Olympic competition programme”.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters this week: “Everyone competing in the women’s category… is complying with competition eligibility rules.
“They are women in their passports and it’s stated in there that they are female.”
In a statement today as controversy grew, the IOC defended the right of the women to box, adding that “every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination”.
“The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.
“These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.
“According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA should “establish a clear procedure on gender testing.
“The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years.
Such an approach is contrary to good governance.
The latest IOC guidelines say measures should be put in place to welcome people of all gender identities and to prevent discrimination based on sex variations.
It adds that inclusion should be the default and athletes should only be excluded from women’s competition if there are clear fairness or safety issues.
At least one woman boxer at the Games has spoken out against the inclusion of Khelif and Lin.
Australia’s Caitlin Parker is in the 75kg weight class so will not face Khelif or Lin but made her stance clear.
“I don’t agree with that being allowed, especially in combat sports as it can be incredibly dangerous,” she said.
Fellow Australian boxer Tiana Echegaray said yesterday: “If you’re talking about fighting an actual man, then no, I’m not cool with fighting a man.
“But in their case, I can’t say specifically on them because I don’t know their scenario or situation.”
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