A boxer who failed two past gender eligibility tests dominated the women’s welterweight final Olympic boxing match on Friday, taking home the gold.
Imane Khelif of Algeria fought against China’s Yang Liu in the final bout, and won every single round. The controversial fighter dominated Yang, as Khelif has with every other female opponent. Khelif never lost a single round during the Paris Olympics, and won every single judge’s card.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) permitted Khelif to compete in the women’s division despite failed gender tests in 2019 and 2023. The Olympics’ gender eligibility standard for boxing is based merely on a fighter’s passport.
“As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams stated at a press conference.
Adams has also made it clear that testosterone levels are not important to the IOC. “Many women can have testosterone which will be called ‘male levels’ and still be women and still compete as women,” he said. “This idea that you do one test for testosterone and that sorts everything out? Not the case, I’m afraid.”
The International Boxing Association (IBA) — an organization the IOC no longer associates with — said two fighters, including Khelif, were given gender tests after the IBA was made aware of concerns about safety from a number of fighters, coaches, and medical staffers.
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“Both boxers were asked to take a further blood test,” Chris Roberts, the IBA CEO, said at a press conference in Paris on Monday. “That happened the 23rd of March, the results came through and it demonstrated the chromosomes we refer to in competition rules that make both boxers ineligible.”
Roberts further explained that Khelif had failed the chromosome test and was given the opportunity to appeal the findings to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The IBA, he said, offered to pay the majority of the appeal. Khelif appealed initially, but then withdrew the appeal.
IBA President Umar Kremlev has criticized the IOC for permitting Khelif to compete with women. He said in a press release that he doesn’t understand why the IOC is “killing” women’s boxing and emphasized that “only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety.”
The IOC is standing by its position, calling the IBA “not credible,” and shaming people who have questioned the gender issue on the basis of fairness and safety.
