Controversy Over Gender Questions About Olympic Boxing Athletes

There has been controversy about whether Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting should be allowed to compete in the women’s boxing events. Khelif won “her” round of 16 welterweight bout over Italy’s Angela Carini in 46 seconds after Carini decided to pull out of the match.

Khelif and Lin were disqualified by the International Boxing Association at the 2023 world championships after failing an unspecified gender eligibility test. The IOC said the IBA decision to disqualify the boxers last year was arbitrary and the main cause for the furor that has seen people such as British author J. K. Rowling and billionaire Elon Musk voice their opposition to them competing in the Games.

“These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA,” the IOC said in its statement. “Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process. The IBA issued a statement Wednesday in which it said both boxers did not have a “testosterone examination” last year but were “subject to a separate and recognized test” for their disqualification.

In a second statement Thursday, the IBA condemned “inconsistencies in eligibility” at the Games. “Both Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting post testing, did not meet the required eligibility criteria to compete within the female category of our respective events,” the body added.

“The urgent nature of the decision (to disqualify the boxers) was justified, as the safety of our boxers is our top priority.” And there seems to be a groundswell of support to protect women from competing against biological men. Much of the push to allow trans people to compete in sports comes from the American left, and their idea that allowing trans people to compete is an act of compassion to oppressed people.

Unfortunately, this push from the American left has effected sporting and political bodies, as a result of the United States’ influence around the world. Which will win out, the cultural leftist push for trans people to compete in sports, or the common sense knowledge that men and women are different, and should not compete with each other in sports? While the cultural left has a lot of power, the grassroots, common sense push against this could see biological women only compete against biological women, as should be the case.