Face shining with sweat and breathing heavily, she turns slowly in the arena and fans her arms up and down, to get the crowd’s attention. Then, pointing to herself, she raises her arms and forms two x’s in quick succession. Svetlana Staneva, Bulgaria’s female Olympic boxer, seemingly sends the message: “I am a woman, Lin Yu-Ting is not.”
This follows the controversial Olympic boxing match between Imane Khelif and Angela Carini, wherein Carini was struck so hard she called the match at 46 seconds.
The Olympics have been a whirlwind of surprises, from a fencer competing while seven months pregnant, $1.5 billion spent on the Seine River trying to clean it from elevated E. Coli levels, a record breaking 193 openly LGBTQ athletes, the Opening Ceremonies wherein the Last Supper was seemingly mocked, France banning the hijab being worn by their athletes, and for the first time ever an equal number of male and female athletes. But quite possibly overshadowing all those surprises is the reaction to the two boxers: Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting.
To preface, this article is not meant to make a call as to whether Khelif and Yu-Ting are biological women. At the rate misinformation and disinformation is being fired off, the wisest option is to hold off on such calls. Instead, this article intends to shed some light on the complete lack of interest on the part of International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ensure women’s competitive events are safe and fair.
The Controversy of Yu-Ting and Khelif Being in the Ring
For those unaware as to the firestorm that has erupted in the boxing and Olympic world, Imane Khelif, a boxer in the Women’s division for Algeria, stepped into the arena on August 1, 2024 with Italy’s Angela Carini. The preliminary round had only lasted for little over 30 seconds when Carini paused the match to have her head guard tightened. Then, after resuming the match for only about 10 seconds, Carini ended it indefinitely. After the match was declared in favor of Khelif, Carini sunk to her knees and sobbed, even ignoring Khelif’s attempts for a handshake. She later stated in an interview: “I have never been hit so hard in my life.”
Word soon got out that Khelif had been disqualified from the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) world championship in New Delhi due to a failed gender test in 2023. Additionally, Khelif had failed another test, in 2022, in Tukey. Both of these tests were conducted by independent laboratories, and the IBA explicitly stated the tests were not testosterone examinations but “a separate and recognized test.” This implies the IBA was able to determine Khelif has XY DNA chromosomes.
Olympic viewers are also concerned by Lin Yu-Ting, who was also disqualified from the World Boxing Championships in both New Delhi and Istanbul, at the same time Khelif was and for the same reasons. Yu-Ting declined to appeal the rulings, and although Khelif initially challenged them, it wasn’t long before that was withdrawn, and the rulings were made binding for both.
During a press conference on Monday, May 5th, the IBA clarified the tests did indeed reveal XY chromosomes. The CEO and general secretary for the IBA stated, “We go to the female World Championships that took place between 15 and 26 March [in 2023 in India]. On 17 March 2023, both boxers were asked to take a further blood test. That happened, and on 23 March the results came through, and it demonstrated the chromosomes that we referred to within the competition rules – that make both boxers ineligible.”
The question of whether or not the boxers are male or have Disorders of Sex Development (DSD) is one that is sweeping the world, currently. Nonetheless, both athletes are now competing in the Paris Olympics, and both are on their way to winning medals. (Please see insert at the end of the article for greater understanding on Sport and DSDs.)
The Dispute Between IOC and IBA
Put simply, the IOC does not like the IBA. Most sports in the Olympics have their own International Federation that oversee the game and eligibility criteria. The IBA had been the authoritative figure for boxing in the Olympics until 2023, when the IOC officially stepped away from the IBA and denounced it as the world governing body for the sport. It is peculiar that seventeen days prior to this unexpected move, the IBA sent a letter (IOC did confirm there was a letter sent) to the IOC on June 5th of that year concerning the disqualification of Khelif and Yu-Ting. One could easily speculate the IOC decided to cut ties with the IBA when it became clear the IBA sought to retain fairness in women’s sports—no matter the cost.
Due to their separation (which makes boxing the only sport being run without a dedicated governing body), the Paris Olympics had no one to identify whether the female boxing athletes were eligible, and therefore the IOC is scrambling to cover up the debacle we are now seeing regarding Khelif and Yu-Ting. Currently, the IOC is seeking to undermine what authority the IBA retains in the boxing world, by stating the two athletes had only “allegedly failed a gender eligibility test” [emphasis added].
The IOC spokesman, Mark Adams, even went so far as to say, “We have no knowledge of what the tests were… They were cobbled together, as I understand, overnight. There was a change in the results so we don’t want to go there. I think if you start working on suspicions, then we’re in trouble.”
The IBA is furious by the recent events and has released numerous statements such as:
“The IBA will never support any boxing bouts between the genders, as the organization puts the safety and well-being of our athletes first. We are protecting our women and their rights to compete in the ring against equal rivals, and we will defend and support them in all instances; their hopes and dreams must never be taken away by organisations unwilling to do the right thing under difficult circumstances.”
Their president, Umar Kremlev, said, “I couldn’t look at her tears. I am not indifferent to such situations, and I can assure that we will protect each boxer. I do not understand why they kill women’s boxing. Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety.”
The IBA has pledged to award Carini $50,000 in prize money as if she had won the match against Khelif. Additionally, they plan to support Sitora Turdibekova, of Uzbekistan, as she lost her match to Yu-Ting last Friday. No word yet as to whether Svetlana Stevana will also be receiving prize money.
The Danger the IOC poses to Women’s Sports
In November 2021, the IOC revealed a framework they had developed to, “support International Federations (IFs) in the development of policies in relation to the participation of transgender (trans) athletes and/or athletes with sex variations that are sport-specific, evidence-based and rights-respecting.”
Such a framework is composed of ten principles: Inclusion, prevention of harm, non-discrimination, fairness, no presumption of advantage, evidence-based approach, primacy of health and bodily autonomy, stakeholder-centered approach, right to privacy, and periodic reviews.
Some key findings in the framework include:
- “Eligibility criteria should be reserved for elite competition only, with inclusion prioritized for youth and community sport.”
- “The physical, psychological, and mental well-being of athletes should be prioritized when establishing eligibility criteria…Such a process may lead an IF to decide that the potential harms to health and well-being are too great to justify imposing eligibility criteria, even at the elite level.”
- “Criteria to determine disproportionate competitive advantage may, at times, require testing of an athlete’s performance and physical capacity. However, no athlete should be subject to targeted testing because of, or aimed at determining, their sex, gender identity and/or sex variations.”
- “As such, where eligibility criteria are developed, they should not lead to ‘sex testing’ or ‘gender verification’ procedures in any form. In addition to there being no true test of ‘sex’, such practices can unnecessarily harm vulnerable athletes and do not provide IFs with evidence of unfair and disproportionate performance advantage in competition.”
- “In such cases, eligibility criteria should not rely on an athletes gender identity or sex variation status as a proxy for injury risk.”
In shorthand, the IOC’s framework states first, trans people should be allowed to play in whatever category they choose in youth and community sport, which in the long run would hamper a young girls opportunity to even reach the Olympics. Second, if imposing eligibility requirements onto a gender-confused individual would pose too great of a risk mentally on that athlete, then just do away with the requirements altogether. Third, you can’t even check for unfair advantage in an athlete to begin with, because no matter what, you will be “…testing because of, or aimed at determining, their sex, gender identity and/or sex variations.” Fourth, there is no possible way to even determine sex. And fifth, if you were somehow able to determine an unfair advantage in an athlete, you can’t assume it will mean automatic risk for injury.
The entire framework is ludicrous and makes no sense when read all the way through. The IOC wants to push ‘inclusion’, yet somehow think they can also push ‘fairness’ simultaneously. And when reading the section on “prevention of harm” one might think the framework is outlining ways to protect female athletes. No such thing, rather the whole framework is designed on how best to prioritize the feelings and ‘dignity’ of transgender athletes. Regardless, doing away with sex-testing is certainly not a step in the right direction.
Mark Adams, discussing sex testing, said, “I hope we all agree that we’re not calling for people to go back to the days of sex testing which was a terrible, terrible thing to do. This involves real people and we’re talking about real people’s lives here.”
In response to his claim, Janice Turner, writer for The Times, wrote, “Actually, we are not. Adams was perpetuating the myth that sex testing was archaic, cruel and degrading, involving athletes dropping their pants for doctors to check they had the “right” genitals. In fact, a sex test was conducted only once in a female athlete’s career: a quick cheek swab with a cotton bud revealing biological sex was added to her permanent record.”
Adams additionally commented, “Just to remind people, this is not a transgender issue. This is absolutely not a transgender issue. These women were born as girls, they are registered as females—they have female passports. They have competed for the last six or seven years in senior competition. They’ve won bouts and lost bouts.”
All that is needed to fight women in the arena is a passport proclaiming a solid ‘F’ for female and you are good to step in the ring.
Keep Women’s Sports Fair
The IOC has made it clear they do not put any priority on keeping women’s sports fair and safe. In fact, they prefer to adhere to transgender ideologies that will privilege males and set back decades of advancement for women’s athletics. The president of IOC issued the shocking challenge, “to come up with a scientific-based new definition of who is a woman, and how can somebody being born, raised and competed and having a passport as a woman cannot be considered a woman.”
We are watching in real time women’s sports devolve into political outrage and female-athletes’ livelihoods made into a reality TV show. If the IOC continues down the road they are currently traveling, there will be no “women’s division” category but instead one simply titled, “low testosterone.” Women will be erased and with it, life-long dreams and remarkable performances.
As more of the story comes out, we hope to learn as to the DSD (Disorders in Sex Development) condition that affects Khelif and Yu-Ting. The ridicule and abuse that have been inflicted on them, without even knowing the full story, has been disturbing to watch and hopefully will come to an end.
Regardless as to whether the two boxing athletes are diagnosed with a condition like Swyer Syndrome or 5-ARD, the IOC has a responsibility to rectify the issue at hand and make the sport safer for women globally. One source reported African countries are specifically scouting for individuals with DSDs, “to train for high-level female competition, since after 2000 they even had a shot at Olympic gold.” Men and women are different physically. The male population enjoys a vast performance advantage when it comes to most sports. A solution needs to be found that is fair for everyone before someone gets seriously hurt.
The IBA Coaches Committee president, Gabriele Martelli, said, “If we lose because of an unfair advantage, we might be hurt emotionally, physically, because an advantage was used to take a medal from us. But in our sport, it is different, it is dangerous; when there is an unfair advantage, someone can die.”
Alexis Goodman Tarkalson was raised on a ranch in Dadeville, Missouri. She loves spending time with her husband and son, reading, hiking mountains, and learning new hobbies. She recently graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho, with a degree in Political Science.