The International Olympic Committee has spoken out following one of the biggest controversies of the Paris games so far, one that has sparked widespread debate around the globe.
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Earlier this week, a row erupted about the inclusion of two boxers who had previously failed a gender eligibility test at a separate competition . Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu‑ting of Taiwan had been disqualified from the 2023 Women’s World Championships with the International Boxing Association president, Umar Kremlev, claiming that DNA tests had “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded.”
In Paris, Italian boxer Angela Carina abandoned her bout against Khelif after 46 seconds, saying she “preferred to stop for my health” and that she’d “never felt a punch like this.”
The controversy soon escalated when high-profile figures stepped into the ring , with J.K. Rowling posting a picture from the fight on X saying: “Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better?” She added that it showed the “smirk of a male who’s knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered.” Elon Musk, meanwhile, shared a post from swimmer Riley Gaines that claimed “men don’t belong in women’s sports.” The X owner co-signed the message by writing: “Absolutely.”
But the International Olympic Committee has stood firmly with Khelif and Yu-ting, who on Friday won her fight in the women’s 57kg category against Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova to reach the quarter-finals.
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“The Algerian boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport. This is not a transgender case,” the IOC said in a daily press briefing on Friday. “There has been some confusion that somehow it’s a man fighting a woman. This is just not the case, scientifically on that there is consensus. Scientifically, this is not a man fighting a woman. And I think we need to kind of get that out.”
“We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” the committee added in a press statement. “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.
It continued, “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 Paris 2024 organizing committee also made a statement, noting that “eligibility rules for athletes are set by the International Federations and by the IOC with regard to boxing for the Paris 2024 Games” and adding that its “responsibility” as organizer of the Paris 2024 Olympics was to “welcome all qualified athletes” to the Games. “We obviously condemn the harassment of which [Khelif] is a victim. Hate, denigration and insults are the opposite of the values we defend.”
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