Lots of backlash following the “fight” between Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Italy’s Angela Carini at the Olympics yesterday, after the Italian abandoned the fight in under 60 seconds because she couldn’t handle her opponent’s power. Which would have been fine, if not for the fact that Khelif failed a gender eligibility test at last year’s women’s world championships, and was barred from the competition.
And so, the assumption is that Imane Khalif is a transgender woman who was unfairly competing against a biological woman in Angela Carini. By all accounts though, Imane Khalif was born a biological woman, but somehow happens to have ridiculous testosterone levels and/or male chromosome composition.
Khelif has never publicly identified as transgender, and being transgender is illegal in her home country of Algeria.
The Olympic committee has now released a statement on the events, saying that Khelif’s eligibility is based upon the gender stated on her ‘passport’. Here’s the statement in full – it also addresses concerns around another Olympic boxer accused of being transgender – Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting :
“Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination.
“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 set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU) (please find all applicable rules here). As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport.
“These rules also applied during the qualification period, including the boxing tournaments of the 2023 European Games, Asian Games, Pan American Games and Pacific Games, the ad hoc 2023 African qualifying tournament in Dakar (SEN) and two world qualifying tournaments held in Busto Arsizio (ITA) and Bangkok (THA) in 2024, which involved a total of 1,471 different boxers from 172 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), the Boxing Refugee Team and Individual Neutral Athletes, and featured over 2,000 qualification bouts.
“The PBU used the Tokyo 2020 boxing rules as a baseline to develop its regulations for Paris 2024. This was to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparations and guarantee consistency between Olympic Games. These Tokyo 2020 rules were based on the post-Rio 2016 rules, which were in place before the suspension of the boxing International Federation by the IOC in 2019 and the subsequent withdrawal of its recognition in 2023.”
“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.
“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.
“Such an approach is contrary to good governance.
“Eligibility rules should not be changed during ongoing competition, and any rule change must follow appropriate processes and should be based on scientific evidence.
“The IOC is committed to protecting the human rights of all athletes participating in the Olympic Games as per the Olympic Charter, the IOC Code of Ethics and the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights. The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving.
“The IBA’s recognition was withdrawn by the IOC in 2023 following its suspension in 2019. The withdrawal of recognition was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). See the IOC’s statement following the ruling.
“The IOC has made it clear that it needs National Boxing Federations to reach a consensus around a new International Federation in order for boxing to be included on the sports programme of the Olympic Games LA28.”
So it looks like the Olympic committee are 100% positive that Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting are biological women who don’t have any kind of unfair advantage over their female opponents, and even rubbish the gender eligibility tests conducted by the IBF that saw both women barred from another competition. Who are we supposed to believe? In a Newsweek article, it specifically mentions hat the IBA performed a DNA test and disqualified the two boxers due to them having XY chromosomes.
I suppose the main point might be that it doesn’t matter whether an athlete is trans or intersex or whatever, but that she/he has an unfair advantage regardless, due to having elevated levels of testosterone, or whatever else. I guess that’s something the Olympic Committee needs to figure out, although it doesn’t look like they’re too worried about it at the moment.
For the anti-trans MMA star who offered to fight 10 trans men in a row, click HERE. Is that happening or what?
