The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has deemed the gender tests conducted by the International Boxing Association (IBA) on two female fighters at last year’s world championships as illegitimate and lacking credibility.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships after the IBA claimed they failed a gender eligibility test. However, the IOC has cleared them to compete at the Paris Olympics.
The IOC criticized the testing process, which occurred only toward the end of the competition after the boxers had already participated in several bouts, labeling it as completely arbitrary.
“Those tests are not legitimate tests. The tests themselves, the process of the tests, the ad hoc nature of the tests are not legitimate,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams told a press conference.
“The testing, the method of the testing, the idea of the testing which happened kind of overnight. None of it is legitimate and this does not deserve any response,” Adams said.
The IOC last year stripped the IBA of its status as boxing’s governing body over governance and finance issues, taking charge of the Paris Games boxing competition and applying eligibility rules from the 2016 and the 2021 Olympics.
Khelif’s dominance in Thursday’s round-of-16 welterweight fight against Angela Carini, who withdrew after 46 seconds following a barrage of punches from the Algerian, triggered a furore that swept social media.
The IBA on Friday promised to pay Italy’s Carini $50,000 in prize money, further fanning the ongoing dispute with the IOC.
Both Khelif and Lin have now reached the semi-finals in their weight categories in Paris.
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“Yu-ting is great!” Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said after she reached the semi-finals of her featherweight division at the Olympics.
“In recent days, Taiwan’s people have been indignant at the slander against her. Facing the challenge, Yu-ting is fearless and uses her strength to crush the rumours. Let us continue to cheer for her!”
IOC President Thomas Bach earlier this week accused the IBA of a defamation campaign against the Olympic body, with IBA President Umar Kremlev, a Russian, posting inflammatory comments on social media against Bach as well as the IOC about the decision to allow the pair to compete.
The IOC has urged national boxing federations to create a new global governing body or risk the sport missing out on the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
