Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s participation at the Paris 2024 Olympics is “not a transgender issue”, a spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said. Khelif beat Italy’s Angela Carini on Thursday (1 August), in a fight that has reignited an online storm about her participation in the Games, despite the fact she has been confirmed as eligible to enter the women’s boxing event.
The welterweight bout lasted just 46 seconds, with the Italian boxer saying she was forced to concede defeat. “I am heartbroken,” Carina said, reports The Guardian. “Regardless of the person I had in front of me, which doesn’t interest me, regardless of all the row, I just wanted to win.”
Khelif previously competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She and fellow boxer Lin Yu-ting were disqualified from last year’s World Championships after failing to meet eligibility criteria.
Lin, who represents Taiwan, was stripped of third place at last year’s World Championships after failing a gender eligibility test. Khelif was disqualified in New Delhi for failing a testosterone level test, following information from the IOC.
Further details on why the pair were disqualified from the World Championships were not given at the time. IOC spokesman Mark Adams addressed the controversy again on Thursday (1 August), reiterating that Khelif and Lin both comply with Olympic eligibility rules and clarifying that their participation had nothing to do with trans issues.
“I repeat, all the competitors comply with the eligibility rules”, Adams stated (via The Guardian). “But what I would say is that this involves real people.”
He added: “And, by the way, this is not a transgender issue. I should make this absolutely clear.” Khelif told the BBC after her latest victory: “I am here for gold. I will fight anybody, I will fight them all.” The IOC previously said that “all athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games comply with the competitions eligibility and entry regulations as well as all applicable medical regulations”.
In response to claims about Khelif, the Algerian Olympic Committee said it “strongly condemns** the unethical targeting and maligning” of their boxer**, calling the attacks on her “deeply unfair”.
Featherweight Lin is set to take on Sitora Turdibekova on Friday (2 August).
According to Wikipedia Khelif is natal woman with DSD making her having high testosterone levels. Not much detail is given about fellow boxer Lin_Yu-ting also cleared to fight in the Olympics after being stripped of a medal for gender issues before. It seems she competed in women’s tournaments throughout her life.
So this makes this another Caster Semenya case with a notable difference, the amount of anti-trans propaganda coverage the IOC boxers’ issue has received is objectively more troubling even compared to Fallon Fox’s MMA matches.
Please have this in mind and debunk whoever claims that this is a trans issue. Point out that their definition of woman leaves actual women out of it, unless they are the Marjorie Taylor Greene type.
I mean this kind of does involve trans issues but not in the way the TERFs believe it does. It shows yet another reason why the moral panic over birth genitals in sports is ridiculous if there are already testosterone limits for these events.
Seems like the real answer here is just to eliminate gendered sports categories entirely and change them to hormone expression categories.
That doesn’t work either though. Apparently elite level athletes tend to have lower than average testosterone levels.
Fundamentally, shit is always going to be unfair to some degree. Someone is going to be taller, have more reach, longer legs, different proportions of fast v. slow twitch muscle fibers, and so on. And lets not forget the biggest influence on how good someone is going to be at sport: money. (You know how many poor people get really good at rowing? Fucking none, because rowing is a rich person’s sport.)