Two boxers start their Olympic campaigns this week after failing gender eligibility tests at the World Championship.
Lin Yu‑ting of Taiwan and Algeria’s Imane Khelif, who are both competing in women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics, were excluded from the Women’s World Championship in India by the International Boxing Association (IBA) last year.
IBA president Umar Kremlev told Russian news agency Tass that DNA tests had “proved they had XY chromosomes (male) and were thus excluded from the sports events”.
The IBA used to run the Olympic boxing tournament but was banned from doing so due to ‘persistent issues’ of alleged corruption.
As a result, Olympic boxing is now being run under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Paris Boxing Unit (PBU), which has cleared Khelif and Lin to compete in the French Captial later this week.
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On Thursday, Khelif will face Italy’s Angela Carini in the welterweight category, while Lin is due to box either Marcelat Sakobi or Sitora Turdibekova in the featherweight division on Friday.
“All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations in accordance with rules 1.4 and 3.1 of the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit,” the IOC said in a statement.
“The PBU endeavoured to restrict amendments to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games.”
The IOC’s own MyInfo website acknowledges that both boxers failed gender eligibility tests last year.
Their internal system states that Khelif was “disqualified just hours before her gold medal showdown against Yang Liu at the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi, India, after her elevated levels of testosterone failed to meet the eligibility criteria”.
The IOC website also reads that Lin was “stripped of her bronze medal after failing to meet eligibility requirements based on the results of a biochemical test.”
According to Agence France-Presse, Khalif published a video clip after the decision to exclude her, during which she said: “Unfortunately, I learned yesterday that I could not compete in the final…
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“I am still proud of myself because I raised the flag of my country. This is a conspiracy for me…
“Saying that I have qualities and capabilities that do not qualify me to fight women is unjust. Logical.”
She added: “I am still proud of raising my country’s flag high… This is a conspiracy.
“There are parties that conspired against Algeria so that our country’s flag does not fly high and we do not win the gold medal.”
Lin doesn’t appear to have ever spoken publicly about her own disqualification.
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News Summary:
- Two boxers cleared to compete at Olympics after failing gender eligibility tests at World Championship
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