Two boxers are causing a stir after being allowed to compete against women at the Paris Olympics despite previously failing gender eligibility tests. Both have won gold medals against women in different international boxing tournaments.
Both Algeria’s Imane Kherif and Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei have been stripped of their medals at the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi after being deemed ineligible by tournament organizers the International Boxing Association.
The 25-year-old Khelif was disqualified and lost his gold medal, while the 28-year-old Lin lost his bronze medal.
Reuters At the time, IBA president Umar Kremlev told Russian news agency TASS that boxers have “XY chromosomes” – men have XY chromosomes and women have XX chromosomes.
“It’s shocking that they were actually allowed to get this far. What is going on?”
The IBA then Guardian The company said it made the decision “after comprehensive review” and that it was “intended to maintain fairness and integrity of competition.”
However, the International Olympic Committee decided to remove the IBA as the governing body in June 2023 and make the IOC’s Paris 2024 boxing unit the governing body. The Paris boxing unit’s rules are said to be more relaxed, but the IOC recorded in its internal system that two boxers had previously been disqualified.
The IOC said Kheriff was “disqualified for not meeting the eligibility criteria due to high testosterone levels just hours before he was due to compete for gold against Yang Liu at the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi, India,” The Guardian reported. The internal body also confirmed that Lin “was stripped of his bronze medal for not meeting the eligibility requirements based on the results of a biochemical test.”
In response to the controversy, Kherif reportedly claimed that all the accusations were a “conspiracy” against Algeria.
“People are plotting so that the Algerian flag is not raised and Algeria does not win the gold medal,” Kherif said.
In response to questions about the issue, the IOC said: “All athletes taking part in the boxing competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have complied with the sport’s eligibility and entry rules.”
The IOC added that “the PBU sought to limit amendments to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparations and ensure consistency between the Olympic Games.”
“It is sick and deeply disturbing that the IOC is allowing this kind of gender manipulation.”
The governing body also said the PBU had decided on the boxing rules for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, based on those used at the 2016 Rio Games.
but, Khelif’s video As videos of the women fighting in the ring began circulating online, viewers around the world began questioning the boxers’ eligibility.
Former world champion boxer Barry McGuigan Asked“It’s shocking that they were actually allowed to get this far. What is going on?”
“It’s egregious and extremely disturbing that the IOC is allowing this kind of gender manipulation,” NCAA swimming champion Caitlin Wheeler told Blaze News.
Wheeler, an advocate for women’s sports and an ambassador for the Riley Gaines Center, added that the “US and all other countries should immediately boycott and not allow the lives of their athletes to be put at risk.”
according to NBC News“Both Khelife and Lynn have always competed as women and there has been no indication that either identifies as transgender or intersex. Intersex refers to people who are born with sex characteristics that do not fit strictly into the male/female binary.”
Kheriff is scheduled to face Italy’s Angela Carini in a women’s boxing qualifying round-of-16 bout on Thursday. 66 kg Category.
Lin will face Shitra Turdybekova of Uzbekistan. 57 kg Top 16 on Friday.
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