Imane Khelif wins gold in women's boxing but is suspected by some of being a male

[AgnosticBoy]

Anyone here been keeping up with the story on Imane Khelif? I have here and there. Here's the scoop:

PARIS — Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer at the center of political controversy over participation in women's sports, will compete for the Olympic gold medal in women's boxing.

Away from Paris, criticism has erupted over the past week around Khelif's participation in the Olympics amid claims that she failed two gender eligibility tests administered by a boxing federation — tests that Olympic officials have dismissed as "illegitimate" as they have defended her participation.

The political controversy around Khelif that erupted over the past week centers on a decision last year by the International Boxing Association to disqualify her and another female boxer from some competitions by claiming that they had failed two unspecified gender eligibility tests. The second boxer, Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, is also competing in the Olympics.

Khelif, 25, is a woman and has competed for years in women's boxing, in which she has accumulated a typical record of wins and losses against her female competition.

"They were born as girls, registered as female passports, have fought at the senior level for six years with no issues," International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams said on Sunday.

But the Russia-linked boxing federation has refused to release any details about those tests, and the disqualification was announced shortly after Khelif defeated a Russian boxer.

In a chaotic press conference Monday, IBA officials raised more questions than they answered about the tests. IBA president Umar Kremlev, speaking by videoconference from Russia, said through a translator that their tests had shown elevated levels of testosterone — but that claim directly contradicted a previous statement from the IBA that said the boxers had not undergone a testosterone exam.

The IOC says the IBA shared the results of the tests, which Olympic officials have denounced as they continue to defend the boxers' participation.

"The method of the testing, the idea of the testing — which kind of happened overnight — none of it was legitimate," Adams said. The IOC broke ties with the IBA last year over long-standing concerns about corruption.

Still, the controversy has led to a swell of harassment online targeted at Khelif and Lin, who will compete in her own semifinal in a different weight class on Wednesday. Earlier in the tournament, Algerian Olympic officials filed a complaint with the IOC to protest harmful posts made online by one of Khelif's competitors; the IOC ordered the competitor to remove them.

Source: NPR

Now this is a real hot button issue. I've gotten conflicting responses about it and decided to bring this up for discussion here. I personally think there is room for questioning Imane Khelif's eligibility in women's boxing given her disqualification last year for failing to meet "gender eligibility tests". Those for Khelif's are claiming that this is an example of transphobic and other bigotry. Those against Khelif are using this to show why it's unfair for transgender females (born male) to compete in women's sports. So let's discuss!

For Discussion:
1. What is your view on the Imane Khelif controversy? Was the International Olympic Committee (IOC) justified in allowing Imane Khelif to compete despite her having had previous failed tests and a disqualification?
2. How could this be handled? Should there be gender-eligibility tests or should the results be made public? There's reports that some of the test results are confidential, like in this article.

*The difference between the IOC and IBA explained in post #2.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Some people might confuse the IOC with the IBA, perhaps thinking that both play a role as a governing body for the olympics.

So here's a brief breakdown of the two:
1. International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the governing body for the modern Olympics as it is responsible for organizing it. This is what the Google search ai tells me when I type in "who sets the rules for the Olympics"

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the final authority for the Olympic Games, including the rules and regulations that govern them.

2. The Interntional Boxing Association (IBA) is the governing body for boxing. Here's one source:

IBA is the sole worldwide governing body for the sport of boxing in all its forms,...
The International Boxing Association works on behalf of all levels of boxing, men and women, to reinvigorate the sport’s grassroots, develop youth and elite boxing and create new opportunities for semi-pro and pro-boxers.

Source: https://ita.sport/partner/international-boxing-association-iba/

The IBA also develops standards for testing boxers for banned substances, and they were also the ones that tested Imane Khelif a year or so ago and found her to have "competitive advantages over other female boxers". Refer here. The IOC banned the IBA from the Olympics over problems involving lack of transparency and other problems.