Two Olympic boxers who’ve failed past gender tests have easily made their way to gold-medal matches in their respective weight classes at the Paris Games.
Lin Yu‑Ting of Taiwan and Imane Khelif of Algeria failed gender tests facilitated by the International Boxing Association (IBA). Still, the Olympics permitted both fighters to compete in women’s boxing.
Lin and Khelif have notably dominated female opponents. Both have won every single round, and Khelif has even won every judge’s card. They’re now guaranteed either a gold or a silver medal.
Here’s what you need to know about the controversy.
Protests From Female Opponents
Unsurprisingly, the fighters’ path to the finals has sparked much outrage and debate. Two of Khelif’s opponents, for example, have made comments about the glaring gender issue. Angela Carini of Italy initially called her match “unjust,” and Hungarian fighter Anna Luca Hamori published numerous posts on social media about Khelif allegedly being male.
As for Lin, Bulgarian fighter Svetlana Staneva made an “X” gesture two times with her hands after losing to Lin – an apparent reference to having two X chromosomes as a female. Staneva’s coach also protested, sharing a note with the press that read, “I only want to play with women I am XX.” Moreover, on Wednesday, Lin’s opponent from Turkey also made the double-X hand gesture after the semifinal match.
What The IBA Is Saying
Members of the IBA held a press conference in Paris on Monday and said that Lin and Khelif failed two gender tests, one in 2019 and one in 2023. Chris Roberts, the IBA CEO, said the tests were given to the fighters after they were made aware of concerns about safety from a number of fighters, coaches, and medical staffers.
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“Both boxers were asked to take a further blood test,” he said. “That happened the 23rd of March, the results came through and it demonstrated the chromosomes we refer to in competition rules that make both boxers ineligible.”
🚨HAPPENING NOW🚨
The International Boxing Association is holding a press conference in Paris to address the issues surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-Ting.
Highlights so far:
*Both boxers were initially subjected to a chromosomal test by an… pic.twitter.com/659lwIWjLu
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) August 5, 2024
Roberts further explained that Khelif and Lin were informed that they tested for XY chromosomes and were given the opportunity to appeal the findings to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The IBA, he said, offered to pay the majority of the appeal; Yu-ting did not appeal, and Khelif appealed initially but then withdrew the appeal.
The presser notably turned testy when Dr. Ioannis Filippatos, the former Chair of the IBA Medical Committee, told reporters that biology and nature cannot change.
“Why [do] you attack me? Why [do] you attack me?” he asked reporters. “I tried to say that the medical result, blood result, looks and says – the laboratories – that this boxer is male.”
Some journalists appear to be arguing with Dr. Filippatos, demanding he further clarify whether Khelif and Lin were born female.
“The blood result looks and says, the laboratories, that these boxers are male.” pic.twitter.com/lgs1vxPeb4
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) August 5, 2024
Moreover, IBA President Umar Kremlev went after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for permitting the boxers to compete with women. He said in a press release that he doesn’t understand why the IOC is “killing” women’s boxing and emphasized that “only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety.”
What The IOC Is Saying
The IOC is sticking by its decision to allow Lin and Khelif to compete against women. IOC spokesman Mark Adams has said that the IBA gender tests are “not credible” because the IBA is not credible, and the reasoning for the gender tests are not credible.
Adams has made it clear that the tests, even if the IBA is right about them, don’t matter to the IOC. “There was no consideration of whether they were correct or not correct because they had no bearing for the eligibility of boxing here,” he stated.
Additionally, the ICO has suggested that Khelif does not identify as “transgender” but did not rule out the fighter being intersex (see more, below).
IOC Gender Standards
To determine gender, the IOC goes by whatever is listed on a fighter’s passport. “As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport,” Adams stated at a press conference.
Aside from not testing for sex, Adams has said that testosterone levels don’t really matter, either. “Many women can have testosterone which will be called ‘male levels’ and still be women and still compete as women,” he said. “This idea that you do one test for testosterone and that sorts everything out? Not the case I’m afraid.”
The IOC, however, has released statements asserting that the fighters are female and were born female. It seems no medical tests are the basis for those statements.
Do The Fighters Have DSD?
The IOC last week implied that Khelif is intersex, with a correction issued on X.
“CORRECTION In today’s IOC – Paris 2024 press briefing, IOC President Bach said: ‘But I repeat, here, this is not a DSD case, this is about a woman taking part in a women’s competition, and I think I have explained this many times,'” the post said. “What was intended was: ‘But I repeat, here, this is not a transgender case, this is about a woman taking part in a women’s competition, and I think I have explained this many times.'”
“DSD” stands for “differences of sex development,” and it’s another term for “intersex.”
CORRECTION
In today’s IOC – Paris 2024 press briefing, IOC President Bach said:
“But I repeat, here, this is not a DSD case, this is about a woman taking part in a women’s competition, and I think I have explained this many times.”What was intended was:
“But I repeat, here,…— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) August 3, 2024
The correction suggests the IBA tests are indeed “credible,” and the fighters do not have female chromosomes. More precisely, the IBA president has stated that the fighters have XY chromosomes, which is the pattern for males.
The presence of a Y chromosome “can lead to the development of biological characteristics associated with maleness, including higher levels of testosterone,” The New York Times notes. Moreover, per the NIH, in the majority of DSD cases with XY chromosomes, “male gonads are identified.”
When Are The Final Matches?
Khelif will face Yang Liu of China on Friday, at 4:50 p.m. Eastern. Lin’s final match is against Polish fighter Julia Szeremeta on Saturday, at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.
This post has been updated with additionally information