By Reinaldo Oliveros
02 Aug 2024, 09:06 AM EDT
Boxer Imane Khelif sparked controversy on Thursday after winning her fight by abandoning her rival. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said she can continue competing because she is a woman.
“There are a lot of women with high levels of testosterone,” said Mark AdamsIOC spokesperson. “Scientifically there is nothing that says it is a man who fights against a woman”Adams stressed, emphasizing that Khelif’s case “is not a case of a transgender athlete, although there has been some confusion,” he explained.
The eligibility criterion for the IOC and for most sports is, he said, “the identity document.”
“If your passport says you’re a woman, you compete as a woman,” Adams said, who stressed at a press conference that the Algerian boxer “was born a woman, was registered as a woman, grew up as a woman and competed as a woman.”
The spokesman said that if all the suspicions surrounding the sexual identity of female athletes were heeded, we would end up returning to the times of femininity tests that no one would want.
Isn’t it interesting how at the 2020 Olympics, when Imane Khelif lost to Kellie Harrington 🇮🇪 in the quarterfinals, literally no one accused her of being a man?
It’s almost as if brain dead right wing morons will hope on any conspiracy theory train pic.twitter.com/jH290S4L4K
— Algeria FC (@Algeria_FC) August 1, 2024
Adams indicated that “The IOC always tries to strike a balance between inclusiveness and fairness” and that the safety of athletes is their “number one concern”, which is why the female boxers involved in the controversy are receiving psychological help, as is their entourage.
Imane Khelif is not the only case
Italy’s Angela Carin withdrew from her round of 16 match against Imae Khelif after 46 seconds, believing she was competing at a disadvantage.
Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting is also in the same situation, disavowed by the boxing federation but accepted by the IOC, an organization that also withdrew its recognition of the boxing entity due to irregularities.
The Algerian boxer’s next fight will be this Saturday against Hungarian Anna Luca Hamori in the quarter-finals.
Keep reading:
– Oscar de la Hoya criticises the IOC after the controversy in women’s boxing in Paris 2024
– Imane Khelif’s controversial victory at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games