2024 Paris Olympics: Two people who do not pass gender eligibility tests are allowed to participate in the women's boxing events
The athletes had already been disqualified from the World Boxing Championships in 2023 because of doubts about their gender. However, the International Olympic Committee has authorized them to compete against women.
Lin Yu-Ting during the Women's Feather Preliminaries Round of 16 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting, representing Algeria and Taiwan, respectively, have been cleared to participate in women's boxing events at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games despite failing the gender eligibility tests that caused their disqualification from the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships in New Delhi last year.
On that occasion, the International Boxing Association (IBA) claimed that it found "XY chromosomes" during tests conducted on both athletes and determined that they failed to meet the eligibility criteria.
The World Women's Boxing Championships to be held in March 2023 in New Delhi was the subject of controversy, reports La Razon, when Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association (IBA), announced the disqualification of several boxers from the championship after concerns were raised about their biological sex. According to Kremlev, after a series of DNA tests, the IBA "discovered athletes who were trying to deceive their colleagues and pass themselves off as women."
Despite this background, Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting, did pass the eligibility criteria laid out by the International Olympic Committee which, despite being aware of their advantage over their rivals, will allow them to participate, according to British newspaper The Independent:
"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."
It was not the International Olympic Committee who determined that both had passed the gender eligibility tests, it was also the Paris Boxing Unit (PBU), a body created solely to assess the criteria for boxing events at these Olympic Games. The PBU affirmed that both athletes met the requirements and, therefore, could compete.
"The PBU endeavored to restrict amendments to minimi[z]e the impact on athletes’ preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games."
What both bodies seem to have failed to take into account, notes The Telegraph, is the danger involved in the sport and that, without a doubt, being a man or having "XY chromosomes" is a physical advantage for anyone facing a woman.
This Thursday, Imane Khelif will face Italian Angela Carini in a welterweight fight. Meanwhile, Lin Yu-Ting, Taiwan's double world champion, will compete against either Congolese boxer Marcelat Sakobi or Uzbekistan's representative Sitora Turdibekova this Friday in the featherweight category.
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