Cases Of Transgender Boxers At The 2024 Olympics Widening, IOC And IBA Noisy

Lin Yu Ting, his work at the 2024 Paris Olympics has drawn debate (Instagram/@boxing_ting).

JAKARTA - Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Chinese Taipei Lin Yu Ting were involved in a dispute over gender at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The participation of the two boxers drew opposition after Italian boxer Angela Carini gave up in just 46 seconds against Khelif.

Carini felt that the fight was unfair and competitive because Khhelif was accused of being transgender, just like Lin Yu Ting.

The polemic then widened. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) which allowed Khelif and Yu Ting to compete was met with resistance from the International Boxing Association (IBA).

IBA is an association that disqualified both of them from the 2023 World Championships because they failed a sex chromodynamic test. Both do not meet the requirements.

IBA Chief Executive Chris Roberts said he could not reveal the results of the gender eligibility test. However, the disqualification of the two boxers from the 2023 Women's World Championship means that the public can read the implied.

"The results of the chromodynamic test showed that the two boxers did not meet the requirements," said Roberts at a press conference.

He further revealed that the test results had been sent to the IOC in June 2023. However, it turns out that the IOC did nothing about it.

No wonder, Khelif and Yu Ting's licensing to appear at the Paris 2024 Olympics made IBA furious.

IBA considers the IOC to have no understanding of the balance between justice and safety, especially in women's sports.

According to IBA, differences in sexual development can result in competitive advantages that may prove dangerous.

However, IBA's advice was ignored by the IOC. The boxing competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics chose to follow the IOC rules.

The IOC has also revoked IBA's status as a global governing body for boxing on the grounds of governance and financial problems.

To the extent that the IOC said that IBA is an organization that has no credibility, is mired in financial uncertainty, and is compromised by relations with Russia's leadership.

"The contents and the IBA press conference organization tell you everything you need to know about this organization and its credibility," said an IOC spokesman.

The IOC also defended the two transgender boxers. They revealed that Khhelif and Lin Yu Ting were victims of sudden and arbitrary decisions by IBA who disqualified without legal proceedings.

"We have two boxers who were born into women, raised as women, who have female passports, and who have competed for years as women. This is a clear definition of a woman," said IOC President Thomas Bach.

Sports And Geopolitical Battles

The IOC and IBA feud worsened after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The presence of Umar Kremlin from Russia as President of IBA, supported by Gazprom, an energy company from his country, has made Thomas Bach even more hated it.

Bach doesn't care about Kremlev's confession that sponsorship cooperation with Gazprom ended last year.

So, the IOC President also saw this problem not only in the context of sports, but also geopolitical.

He turned a blind eye to IBA's intention to protect female boxers. Bach saw more that IBA's goal was to damage the 2024 Paris Olympics which Russia did not participate in because of the war in Ukraine.

In fact, this conflict has also shifted to personal sentiment, no longer an organization.

Kremlev had attacked Bach personally and denounced the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics and defended his own fight against corruption.

"Today we witnessed the death of women's boxing, the corruption of the judges. All of this happened when Mr. Bach (became) President (IOC)," Kremlev said at the IBA press conference.

Meanwhile, Williams Square, professor of sports genomics and training at Manchester Metropolitan University, said that when considering whether a person has an unfair advantage (related to gender), there are four things to know.

The first thing is to look at chromodynamics. Then, testosterone levels, other hormones, as well as body responses to testosterone.

"It was a clinical assessment, which was really very invasive. Only seeing someone's sex chromosomes was incomplete," Williams said.

Meanwhile, on the IBA test, Kremlev said the test results showed the two boxers had high testosterone levels, without providing further information.

In fact, IBA doctor, Ioanis Filippatos, said the testosterone had not been tested.