Two boxers, Imane Khelif from Algeria and Lin Yu-ting from Taiwan, sparked a storm of controversy by competing in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games despite not meeting the hormonal standards required to compete in boxing matches. Both boxers had been banned by the International Boxing Association (IBA) due to chromosomal (karyotype) blood test results, but now fight under the direct supervision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The apparent lack of measures to ensure their eligibility for women’s boxing, or at least not sharing results with other teams, has put these boxers at the center of a heated debate.
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The controversy came to a boiling point when Italian boxer Angela Carini refused to continue her Thursday bout with Imane Khelif 46 seconds after it began, citing Khelif’s powerful punches, which seemed designed to overwhelm her teammates. The problem with these particular boxers is well known to all and, at the moment, it seems that everyone is either silent or not putting the spotlight on it.
CHROMOSOME XY
The case highlights the differences between the IBA and the IOC when it comes to gender testing. Neither organization has provided exhaustive details of the tests conducted, but if the two athletes have one X and one Y sex chromosome, as all men do, then they clearly cannot participate in the women’s division. The sport, to be fair, has historically segregated based on weight and sex. Someone with XY chromosomes cannot and should not compete with people with XX chromosomes. It’s not a gender issue, it’s a health and safety issue.
The fundamental question remains: was the IOC aware of this issue in June 2023 when its classification for Paris 2024 was to be approved? That is, did these official laboratory results exist for these two athletes? And if so, why did it allow these athletes to participate first in the qualification and then in the Olympic Games without checking these two cases?
More questions arise: had the IBA medical commission examined these athletes? And if so, when did they do so and what were the results of the review? Did the IOC, as organizer, retest these two cases before the start of the Games? Will it do so directly now, even though the matter has reached huge proportions on an international scale? Will it accept these athletes winning medals without prior verification and testing? This lack of transparency casts a large shadow over the future of boxing and the credibility of the games in general, raising concerns about the fairness and integrity of the sport, all the more so when the IOC itself is the organizer of these boxing games.
Joint Paris 2024 Boxing Unit/IOC Statementhttps://t.co/22yVzxFuLd pic.twitter.com/fZvgsW8OOi
— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) August 1, 2024
THE IBA INFORMATION
There is speculation that the IBA may have deliberately released information about these athletes on the day of the boxing matches to disrupt Olympic proceedings, reflecting possible hostility towards the IOC. But the IBA must provide specific information about the case and disclose the test results for the sake of the transparency and equality it proclaims. The safety of athletes at the Games is not a personal matter and if it says it represents the federations that remain members and participate in the Games and has data, it should make it known to everyone to protect the athletes, the credibility of the Games and, above all, the principles and values of Olympism. In emergency and possibly dangerous situations there is no confidentiality. The athletes and their safety are the only priority of the Games.
It is also unlikely that the National Olympic Committees of Taiwan and Algeria were unaware of the situation. Had the Algerian Olympic Committee complained and got involved in the case of the expulsion of boxer Khelif from the World Championships in India? If so, then they are well aware and should inform everyone and what they have done about this case. Other boxing officials who were present at the Olympics probably had some knowledge, yet they remained silent, allowing the situation to escalate. What is CONI doing? There is also boxer Khelif’s appeal to CAS. All the evidence is there. Why did boxer Khelif withdraw from the case and not try to get justice?
Does the IOC ethics committee have anything to check on all this? The IOC medical commission? Since this is no longer a matter of an international federation and the IOC itself is an organizer and falls within the scope of its committees. The issue is very simple: boxing has only two categories by genetics, men and women. If you are not female (XX), you cannot compete in the women’s division. There is no other category under the current boxing rules, only these two.
WHERE IS WORLD BOXING
Boxing, as a sport, requires a fundamental overhaul. Simply sidelining the IBA is not enough; those who previously influenced IBA competitions and have now distanced themselves from the IBA cannot be considered for the creation of a new recognized governing body. They are just part of the same whole that was expelled from the IBA for the reasons it was expelled. And World Boxing can’t just whistle indifferently and say I’m not the organizer either. If it was the organizer it seeks to be, what would it do to protect the athletes, the equality and the credibility and integrity of the sport it constantly promotes?
The sport requires a thorough cleansing to restore its integrity and ensure a fair and level playing field for all competitors. This controversy highlights the urgent need for clear and consistent standards across all sport governing bodies and greater transparency in the enforcement of those standards. Only in this way can the integrity of events such as the Olympic Games be preserved and the confidence of athletes, coaches and fans maintained.
THE PAU GASOL OPINION
Pau Gasol, now a member of the athletes’ commission of the International Olympic Committee, summoned national and international media this Friday to address the issues surrounding the Olympic Games, especially the case of boxing and acknowledged that measures must be taken and studied if adjustments are needed:
“We recognize that boxing is an important sport in the world and it’s a sport that we have to pay attention to, we have to have good leadership. We have to look at something more concrete and look in the medium term at the reality of people who change sex, but not generate a disproportionate advantage in any sport. As an athlete you feel bad when you see an athlete refusing to compete because she thinks the situation is unfair. You work four years for that and you don’t continue because you think there might be an injustice. But sometimes these types of cases are necessary for things to improve or be addressed. The message I send to the sporting community is that the IOC will lay the groundwork to convey confidence that there will be fair conditions for competition.”