Olympic boxing is fighting over gender

Neither from Algeria Imane Khelif not Taiwan Lin Yu-ting are making their Olympic debut. Both boxers previously competed at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals and round of 16 of their respective weight categories.

But that didn’t stop his appearances in Paris from causing a stir.

Khelif, 25, fights in the women’s 66kg quarterfinals on Saturday after her preliminary opponent on Thursday abandoned the fight less than a minute later, and Lin, 28, is expected to step into the ring on Friday for the women’s 57kg round of 16 – but critics claim the two are really “men.”

Controversy over gender has swept the sport since last year, when the pair were disqualified from the World Championships in New Delhi after they were on track to win medals but failed the eligibility test.

The International Boxing Association (IBA), organizer of the World Championships, said at the time that athletes who “pretended to be female” were excluded based on tests that showed they “possessed XY chromosomes.” (Women typically have XX pairs of chromosomes and men typically have XY pairs. Neither Khelif nor Lin have ever identified as male, transgender, or intersex—which refers to people with both male and female sexual characteristics.)

See more information: What to know about the history of trans and non-binary Olympians

However, the Russian-led IBA, which has long faced integrity questions It is concerns about governance, does not oversee Olympic qualification. For the 2024 Summer Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does, and has repeatedly affirmed Khelif and Lin’s eligibility.

“All athletes participating in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games boxing tournament comply with competition eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations,” the IOC said in a statement on Monday.

“Everyone competing in the women’s category is participating in, following and complying with the competition’s eligibility rules,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said during a press conference on Tuesday. “These athletes have competed many times over many years – they didn’t just arrive.” (Adams, in another press conference on Thursday also rejected the idea that testosterone testing was a “panacea” for such issues.)

The IBA criticized the IOC in a declaration on Wednesday for the “inconsistent application of eligibility criteria” and reiterated that Khelif and Lin “have competitive advantages over other female contestants” based on the results of the tests they took. “The IOC’s differing regulations on these issues, in which the IBA is not involved, raise serious questions about competitive fairness and athlete safety,” the organization said.

As Khelif was scheduled to face Italian Angela Carini in the preliminaries on Thursday, Italian government officials also complained, according to the Italian news agency ANSA. “It is surprising that there are no certain, rigorous and uniform criteria at an international level, and that there could be a suspicion, and much more than a suspicion, of an unfair and potentially dangerous competition for one of the candidates for the Olympics, an event that symbolizes the sports justice”, said the Minister of Family and Equal Opportunities, Eugenia Roccella. The Minister of Sports, Andrea Abodi, added: “I have difficulty understanding that there is no alignment in the parameters of minimum hormonal values ​​at an international level, which includes the European and world championships and the Olympics.”

The controversy has also been widely discussed by social media users, current and former athletes, and commentators, many of whom have expressed concern based on the fact that biological males throw a more powerful punch. “I don’t agree that they can compete in sports, especially combat sports. It can be incredibly dangerous,” said Australian boxing captain Caitlin Parker. supposedly said. “It’s shocking that they’ve managed to get this far, what’s going on?” Former Irish boxer Barry McGuigan posted in X. “Someone can be killed” opined Oliver Brown, chief sports writer for British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

Khelif and Lin’s home countries—and compatriots– I supported them. Algerian Olympic Committee criticized the “malicious and unethical” attacks on Khelif this week, saying he took “all necessary measures to protect her. “These defamation attempts, based on lies, are completely unfair, especially at a crucial time when she is preparing for the Olympic Games, the pinnacle of her career,” the statement said.

And the spokesman for Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, said Thursday in a post on X that Lin “demonstrated incredible strength, overcoming doubts to compete fairly on the world stage. Her determination inspires the nation!

Lin, who was hailed at home for breaking gender stereotypes, said local media last week that she’s not trying to draw attention to herself by keeping her hair short. “Really, what I’ve been doing is being myself,” she said. “If I wore my hair long, I would have to spend a lot of time taking care of it and I wouldn’t have time to rest between morning and afternoon workouts. How could I perform well like this?”

Her trainer also said that Lin has been frustrated by the insults and criticism she reads on social media, but Lin emphasized: “I want to focus on my performance in the ring. …All I can do is prepare myself and try my best to ignore what the haters say.”

In turn, Khelif, who became UNICEF Ambassador earlier this year said she is most proud of her ability to overcome obstacles, including success in a sport in which her father did not approve of girls participating. “My dream is to win a gold medal,” she said in March. “I particularly want to inspire girls.”