The International Boxing Association is doubling down on its claim that two female boxers competing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris are actually male.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting were barred from competing at the 2023 World Championships after the fighters reportedly failed gender eligibility tests conducted by the IBA, though the organization never specified what the tests were. However, the IBA has no bearing on boxing in the Olympics which is now run by the International Olympic Committee after the IOC cited concerns with the IBA’s governance, finance, refereeing, and ethical issues.
As a result, the IOC cleared both Khelif and Yu-ting to compete at the 33rd Olympiad—a decision that received widespread criticism from athletes, celebrities, and pretty much everyone else with a phone in their pocket.
In an attempt to clarify what tests Kheli and Yu-ing underwent, the IBA held a press conference in Paris on Monday. Unfortunately, very little was accomplished as the event was subject to multiple contradictory statements from officials. Still, Ioannis Filippatos, former chairman of the IBA’s medical committee, insisted that “abnormalities” were detected in blood tests taken in 2022.
“The medical result, blood result, looks – and the laboratory says – that these boxers are male,” said Filippatos. The problem is that we have two blood exams with a karyotype of male. This is the answer from the laboratory.”
This continues to go on and on…#OlympicGames
Dr. Ioannis Filippatos, the former Chair of IBA Medical Committee and an OB/GYN with three decades of experience, has spoken.
He has confirmed that neither Lin nor Khelif are biological female, and has slammed the IOC for using… pic.twitter.com/a6SSYTdDG5
— Scott Gulbransen (@LVGully) August 5, 2024
For those unfamiliar, a karyotype is an individual’s complete set of chromosomes or a lab-made image of those chromosomes used to look for abnormalities in chromosome number or structure.
Algerian Olympic and Sports Committee Responds to IBA’s Claim That Imane Khelif is a Male
The Algerian Olympic and Sports Committee snapped back at the IBA’s statement in short order, saying:
“Algeria is not a member of the IBA. We do not recognize the IBA as a legitimate institution, and it has no connection with the Olympic Games. Our champion, Imane Khelif, remains untouched and undeterred by the baseless claims of the IBA.”
Khelif and Yu-ting both competed at the Tokyo Games in 2021 without issue though neither one went home with a medal. This year, that won’t be the case as both women have fought their way into gold-medal matches this year. Khelif will meet China’s Yang Liu in the 66kg final on Friday while Yu-ting faces Julia Szeremeta of Poland in the 57kg finale this Saturday.
Watch Khelif’s home country continue to cheer her on amid all of the controversy:
