IOC defends Olympic boxers in gender eligibility controversy amid firestorm
The International Olympic Committee defended two boxers involved in a gender controversy amid one fighter's win on Thursday, which sparked controversy.
The International Olympic Committee maintained Thursday that the boxers in its women’s competition "comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU)."
The IOC’s statement came as Algerian boxer Imane Khelif defeated Italy’s Angela Carini via abandonment. Khelif was able to compete despite the International Boxing Association (IBA) determined that Khelif had "XY chromosomes."
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The IBA said Wednesday that its test "conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors."
Khelif’s win sparked a firestorm across social media, with many saying the International Olympic Committee shouldn’t have allowed the fight to go on and that Khelif shouldn’t be competing in the matches.
The IOC defended allowing having Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting in the women’s competition and fired shots at the IBA. The organization added "with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport," and their eligibility rules have been used in other IOC-sanctioned tournaments.
"We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments," the IOC said.
"These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.
"According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA should ‘establish a clear procedure on gender testing"’
"The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years."
The IOC added that it was "saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving."
Lin is set to compete on Friday, and Khelif will go around on Saturday.
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