IOC Breaks Silence On Olympics Boxer Gender Controversy

The International Olympic Committee defended two boxers at the center of a gender controversy amid their participation in the 2024 Paris Games .

Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting were both reported to have failed eligibility tests and disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) at the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi, India, leading to a debate about their participation in the ongoing Paris Olympics, specifically with Khelif forcing Angela Carini of Italy to withdraw just 46 seconds into their opening-round fight. The IOC, which has differing gender eligibility tests from the IBA, claimed that Khelif and Lin were victims of an "arbitrary decision" when they were previously disqualified.

“We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” the IOC said in its statement shared on Olympics.com . “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," the IOC added. “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.”

Lin is scheduled to face Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan in her first women's 57kg Paris Olympics match on Friday (August 2). Khelif is scheduled to face Anna Luca Hamori in the quarterfinals of the 66kg weight class on Saturday (August 3).