There are two athletes competing at the Olympics, who have been at the center of discussion at this year's 2024 Paris Games as their gender had remained unknown. Recently there has now been confirmation that both boxing Olympians have tested positive for XY chromosomes, which shows they are not biologically female.
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Algeria's Imane Khelif (66-kg women's boxer) and Taiwan's Lin Yu-Ting (57-kg women's boxer) have been called into question after the International Olympics Committee has allowed both fighters to compete, despite failing gender tests conducted by the International Boxing Association last year.
However, an IOC spokesperson previously said they are not going to adhere to the IBA's testing results, as they deny the fighters as being transgender.
"They are women in their passports and it's stated that this is the case, that they are female."
The IBA held a press conference on Monday, where Dr. Ioannis Filippatos, who was the former Chair of the IBA Medical Committee and has 30+ years of experience, spoke out against the IOC's eligibility requirements at the Olympics.
Some journalists appear to be arguing with Dr. Filippatos, demanding he further clarify whether Khelif and Lin were born female.
"The blood result looks and says, the laboratories, that these boxers are male." pic.twitter.com/lgs1vxPeb4
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) August 5, 2024
"Medicine is knowledge, it is not opinion," Dr. Filippatos stated at the press conference. "One passport can give to us the opportunity to be men, and, tomorrow when I go back to Athens, I can go to my government and change my name from Ioannis to Ionnia. That means I am a woman tomorrow? Please. The nature and the biological world do not change."
Both Khelif and Lin have dominated so far in this year Olympics, as the Algerian boxer's preliminary round opponent bowed out of the fight in less than a minute, then in the quarterfinals Khelif won by unanimous decision 5-0, while Lin has also won both of the last two rounds 5-0, 5-0.
Round of 16 (66 kg): Khelif (left); Angela Carini (right)
Round of 16 (57 kg): Lin (left); Sitora Turdibekova (right)
With this in mind, as both fighters are now one fight away from competing in the finals, the controversy continues to grow.
Ultimately, the IBA has condemned the IOC for allowing this to take place, as according to their DNA tests both fighters have XY chromosomes (which is found in biological males), as confirmed by IBA president Umar Kremlev.
To note, Khelif, who was disqualified from competing in the gold medal match at the World Championships (2023), appealed these findings, while Lin did not.
The IBA's originally released statement on this issue read as follows:
"IBA remains committed in ensuring competitive fairness in all of our events, we absolutely condemn the inconsistencies in eligibility to compete in the boxing competition held in the Paris Olympic Games 2024. To reiterate, both Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting post testing, did not meet the required eligibility criteria to compete within the female category of our respective events."
🚨HAPPENING NOW🚨
The International Boxing Association is holding a press conference in Paris to address the issues surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-Ting.
Highlights so far:
*Both boxers were initially subjected to a chromosomal test by an… pic.twitter.com/659lwIWjLu
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) August 5, 2024
