Gender controversy in Paris Olympics: IOC defends decision to allow Imane Khelif & Lin Yu-ting

Gender controversy in Paris Olympics: IOC defends decision to allow Imane Khelif & Lin Yu-ting

A gender controversy had erupted in the ongoing Paris Olympics on Thursday after Italy’s Angela Carini forfeited her Round of 16 bout against Khelif in 46 seconds.

Algerian boxer Khelif and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting were disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) at last year’s World Championships in New Delhi after both failed unspecified gender tests.

However, boxing is conducted at the Paris Olympics by IOC’s Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU) following IOC’s derecognition of IBA.

Carini took two hard punches from Khelif in the North Paris Arena during their pre-quarter final clash on Thursday, one of which seemingly dislodged her headgear.

Defending its decision, IOC said that the gender and age of the athletes are based on the information available on their passports. Both Khelif and Yu-ting identify themselves as women.

“Every person has the right to practice sport without discrimination,” said IOC in a statement.

“We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, IBA World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments,” the statement added.