![Imane Khelif has vowed to capture Olympic gold in Paris [Image courtesy: @imane_khelif_10 on Instagram]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/08/16da3-17225101626065-1920.jpg)
Leading up to Khelif’s 66-kilogram bout against Italy’s Angela Carini at the Olympics, Khelif boasted an amateur boxing record of 36-9 and a pro record of 1-0. Some argued that Khelif shouldn’t be permitted to compete in the women’s division at the Olympics due to her previous suspension.
Carini sustained a few punches and then refused to continue around the 46-second mark of their fight, with Khelif thereby winning and advancing in the tournament.
Did Imane Khelif fail gender eligibility test?
A recent report by Reuters referred to the discussions surrounding Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting’s participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The International Boxing Association (IBA) barred Khelif from competing in the women’s world boxing championships that took place in New Delhi, India, in March 2023.
The ban came mere hours before she was to compete in a gold medal bout against China’s Yang Liu. Additionally, Lin Yu-ting was stripped of her bronze medal.
The actions against Khelif and Lin were because they’d failed the IBA’s eligibility criteria.
It was reported that Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting failed the IBA’s gender eligibility test, which doesn’t allow athletes with XY chromosomes or higher than normal testosterone levels to compete in the women’s division.
Khelif deemed the disqualification as a plot to prevent an Algerian boxer from winning. As for the IOC, it stated that Khelif was barred due to elevated testosterone levels.
In June 2023, the IOC stripped the IBA of its right to govern international amateur boxing owing to its alleged failure to reform certain financial, ethical, and governance-related issues. The IOC then took over the reins of regulating amateur boxing, governed the sport during last year’s Tokyo Olympics, and is overseeing the sport during the Paris Olympics.
Since the IOC’s rules permit the inclusion of athletes with gender diversity and DSDs (Differences of Sexual Development), it has allowed Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting to compete at the Paris Olympics.
The term DSD implies a set of rare conditions related to an individual’s reproductive organs, genes, and hormones. Certain people with DSDs are raised as females. Nevertheless, they have male-like blood testosterone levels, the ability to utilize the testosterone in their bodies, and XY chromosomes that are usually found in a person who’s a cisgender male (i.e., assigned male at birth).
On the contrary, a person who’s a cisgender female (i.e., assigned female at birth) has significantly lower testosterone levels and has XX chromosomes.
Cisgender males go through male puberty and generally possess an advantage in regard to skeletal structure, muscle mass, and faster twitch muscle. These differences give the average male a notable advantage against an average female in athletic performance, especially in a boxing match or other combat sports contests. However, it is not clearly established whether a woman with DSD would have the same advantages.
As reported by NBC, Khelif and Lin haven’t publicly identified as transgender or intersex.
Apart from Khelif and Lin, Zambia’s Barbra Banda, a prominent women’s football player, also reportedly deals with DSD. Incidentally, Banda also competed at the Paris Olympics and recently delivered a historic performance against Australia.
Current and former female boxing champions such as Claressa Shields and Ebanie Bridges have lambasted the IOC for its ruling. Meanwhile, the COA, which is the Algerian Olympic Committee, has lent its support to Imane Khelif and condemned the reports against her as “baseless propaganda.”
