A new issue has been added to the ongoing gender debate in Olympic boxing.
Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who was one of the candidates to compete in the Olympics along with Algerian boxer Imane Kherif, defeated Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva in the women’s 57 kg quarterfinals on Sunday morning to ensure she would win at least the bronze medal.
Staneva wasn’t going to leave the ring without making her opinion known.
After the match, the Bulgarian athlete made two Xs with her index fingers, likely representing female chromosomes, putting her opponent’s gender at the forefront of the Olympics along with Kherif.
Yuting and Kheriff have been at the centre of a clash over gender identity since it was revealed by many that they were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships and banned by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for failing a gender eligibility test.
IBA president Umar Kremlev said at the time that DNA tests on the athletes “proved that they have XY chromosomes”.
But the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which set different qualification tests and banned the IBA from the Olympics, has defended the fact that both boxers are women.
In response to a number of questions about Kherif, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said: “The Algerian boxer was born as a woman, was registered as a woman, lives as a woman, boxes as a woman and has a woman’s passport.”
2024 Paris Olympics
“This is not a transgender case. I know you didn’t say that, but somehow there’s a misconception that it’s men fighting women. Scientifically, that’s not the case. There’s a consensus on that. Scientifically, this is not a battle between men and women. And I think we need to understand that.”
IOC President Thomas Bach said on Saturday that any hatred towards Uting and Khelif was “totally unacceptable.”
Yuting and Staneva did not touch gloves at the start of the bout, and Staneva left the arena without making any comment.
After the game, Yuting did not comment on his involvement in the controversy.
“I’ve received many messages of support from people back home and in Paris. I’m grateful,” she said. According to the Daily Mail. “But I couldn’t read it because I had shut down my social media.
“I will continue to work hard, aiming for the gold medal. I won the bronze medal, but I want to win the gold medal.”
