After 46 seconds in Olympic ring with Imane Khelif of Algeria and Angela Carini, a welterweight representing Italy, tapped. “One punch hurt a lot, so I said enough,” Carini told reporters after the match. In most events, this would be a celebrated victory. But because Khelif — and fellow boxer Lin Yu-Ting — reportedly “failed” the International Boxing Association’s gender eligibility test, her victory over Carini reignited a debate about biology, genetics and fairness in athletics. It also set off a firestorm of misinformation about her gender and eligibility to compete in the Olympics.
What started the controversy?
IBA President Umar Kremlev claimed Last year, “they were proven to have XY chromosomes” (normally associated with males) during the organization’s testing. But neither the results nor the names of the tests were released. The International Olympic Committee did not consider testing carried out by the IBA – which is no longer the governing body for Olympic boxing – in its eligibility assessments. But that hasn’t stopped rumors about Khelif and Lin from circulating online.
Khelif, who competed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and other women’s tournaments, does not identify as transgender or intersex, according to a statement from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
Khelif reportedly has a variation in his sexual characteristics.
Several media outlets have said that Khelif may have a sexual difference in development (DSD), sometimes referred to as disorders of sexual development, although she has not commented publicly.
These are a wide range of rare conditions in which someone’s genitalia, reproductive organs and other characteristics may be “incompatible” with their genetics, according to the Cleveland Clinic. In some cases, this means that people are born with what are normally considered male chromosomes – an X chromosome and a Y chromosome – but outwardly have female characteristics, including a vulva. Or people with these conditions may be born with female chromosomes (XX) and a penis.
False online claims about Lin and Khelif’s bodies have misrepresented how the condition can affect anatomy. Having a DSD can mean a wide variety of things in terms of how a person’s body develops. “The reason why [intersex] athletes we’re talking about would have been registered as female at birth, likely because that decision was based on external genitalia,” which looks like a typical woman’s, says Williams. “In some cases, they can be very different internally; They may or may not have a cervix, they may have internal testicles instead of ovaries, depending on the type of DSD.”
For example, women and girls with Swyer’s syndrome normally have a uterus and fallopian tubes. Some have ovaries that may not function properly or have internal testicles instead. Still others have completely normal internal reproductive systems, according to University of California, San Francisco.
How common is this?
Although these conditions are rare – estimates vary from fraction of one percent for almost 2% of the population – there are probably “thousands” of people with DSDs around the world, Alun Williams, professor of sport and exercise genomics at the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, told Yahoo Life. But there are so many different specific conditions and physiologies that fall under this umbrella term that “almost no two individuals are alike,” he says.
Khelif and Lin are not transgender.
There is no evidence that Khelif or Lin are anything other than cisgender women, and people with DSDs are not transgender. They are often described as intersex (although Khelif does not identify himself by this term, according to GLAAD), or as having a variety of sexual characteristics. Unlike someone who is transgender, an intersex person has not undergone any form of transition; they are simply born with some male characteristics – normally invisible, including their chromosomes – and some female characteristics, which are often external and visible ones.
Being intersex and being transgender “are really very different situations,” says Williams. Female transgender athletes “are, at birth, male, and then go through some transition later in life,” she adds. In many cases, intersex people go their entire lives without knowing they have DSD, as was the case with South African star Caster Semenya, who discovered she had the Y chromosome as a result of competitive testing.
Do female athletes with DDS have an unfair advantage?
“It is not at all clear whether athletes who have DDS conditions have a performance advantage over others,” Roger Pielkeprofessor of sports governance at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told Yahoo Life.
One study suggested that higher testosterone levels in intersex athletes were associated with better performance than other female athletes, but it was controversial and not definitive. And Williams says there haven’t been many other high-quality studies on intersex people in various sports. However, “testosterone levels in adults may be associated with athletic advantages when acting on some tissues (such as muscle), with the result that some advocate the use of testosterone levels to assess eligibility for the women’s category in certain sports”. Dr.executive director of the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, told Yahoo Life.
Differences in testosterone could make a bigger difference in athletics that involve many upper-body “power movements,” including boxing, Williams says. Chromosome and other so-called gender tests are not the answer, experts say. “But when we come into contact with sports like rugby or combat sports like boxing, we are introducing additional safety risks,” rather than just issues of competitive advantage in sports like track and field or swimming, says Williams.
And now?
The IOC said in a Thursday’s statement that there is nothing in its structure that disqualifies Khelif or Lin, and on Friday called the IBA tests “cobbled together” during a Press conference. Despite the defeat in the boxing fight against Khelif, Carini apologized for not shaking his opponent’s hand, according to the Italian sports daily Sports Gazette. “All this controversy makes me sad,” said Carini. “I’m sorry about my opponent too.” She added that she respected the IOC’s decision and would “hug” Khelif if she saw her again.
Khelif returns to the ring on Saturday, while Lin fights on Sunday, with each competing in the quarterfinals in their respective weight classes.
