Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif Refuses to Discuss Failed IBA Gender Test

VILLEPINTE, FRANCE - AUGUST 3: Imane Khelif (red) of Team Algeria competes against Anna Lu
Mehmet Murat Onel/Anadolu via Getty
Frances Martel

Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, who has been at the center of controversy after the International Boxing Association (IBA) chief claimed Khelif had male chromosomes, refused to answer any questions on Sunday about biological sex or fairness concerns at the Paris Games.

The IBA disqualified Khelif, fighting in the 66 kilogram division, and Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting, fighting in the 57 kilogram division, from fighting in its women’s tournaments in March 2023 on the grounds that they failed unspecified tests to confirm that they fit the governing body’s definition of a woman. IBA President Umar Kremlev told the Russian news agency Tass at the time that Lin and Khelif “have XY chromosomes,” the genetic makeup of a human male.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed Lin and Khelif to compete because it does not use the IBA testing standards, requiring athletes only to present their passports and qualifying them to compete as men or women, depending on how their countries classify them.

Imane Khelif  Team Algeria competes in the women’s 66kg quarter-final boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena, in Villepinte, France on August 3, 2024. Khelif wins the match and advanced to semi-finals. (Mehmet Murat Onel/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The boxers’ participation in the Paris Summer Olympics has fueled a longstanding feud between the IOC and IBA, as both have accused each other of inconsistent or insufficient testing to ensure safety and fairness in their events.

Both fighters assert that they were born girls and have always been female. IOC President Thomas Bach defended the fighters this weekend, telling reports, “We have two boxers… who were born as women, raised as women, who have passports as women, who have competed for many years as women. And this is a clear definition of a woman.”

Bach went on to say that “this is not a DSD case” – referring to Differences in Sexual Development, a range of rare conditions in which a person’s genitalia do not necessarily match with their chromosomes or hormone levels – but the IOC later corrected this statement, claiming Bach meant to say “transgender case.”

Khelif, who has faced more aggressive public criticism after multiple victories in Paris, asserted after her last win, “I am a woman,” and lamented “bullying” against the athletes in an interview on Sunday.

“I know that the Olympic Committee has done me justice, and I am happy with this remedy because it shows the truth,” Khelif told SNTV, a partner of the Associated Press, in that interview.

“I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects,” Khelif urged. “It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying.”

The Associated Press noted, however, that when asked about the testing that had triggered the ongoing questions surrounding eligibility, “Khelif declined to answer … saying she didn’t want to talk about it.”

The lack of specific information regarding the IBA disqualifications has been at the core of some calls for Khelif and Lin to be disqualified, on the ground of allegedly not being women. Confusing reports have on some occasions identified the boxers as “transgender,” which is incorrect – neither of the fighters have ever claimed to adopt a gender identification inconsistent with their sex. Some outlets, including the public NPR radio network, have claimed that the IBA tested the fighters and found elevated testosterone levels, which the IBA denies. Elevated testosterone levels alone do not indicate that a person is male.

The Associated Press claimed in its interview with Khelif that the IBA “which has faced years of clashes with the IOC — has refused to provide any information about the tests,” a false statement.

“Point to note, the athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential,” the IBA said in a statement on July 31.

The nature of the “separate and recognized test” remains largely a mystery, however, as Kremlev’s comments to Tass claiming the fighters have XY chromosomes are the only detailed public information on the matter. As the issue concerns private medical information, the fighters themselves retain ultimate control over the test results.

Khelif has been more outspoken on the dispute regarding participation in the Games, calling the alleged failed test a “conspiracy,” though the boxer has refused to discuss the specifics of the IBA testing. Lin has largely eschewed commenting on the matter at all, instead offering the press statements of gratitude to Taiwanese people for supporting the fighter throughout the Games. The Taiwanese government, including former President Tsai Ing-wen and current administration officials, have published multiple statements and posts on social media enthusiastically supporting Lin and affirming that Lin is a woman.

Cheering for Taiwanese athletes is particularly challenging at the Games as the IOC refuses to recognize Taiwan, a sovereign and democratic state, as a country, forcing it to compete as “Chinese Taipei” to placate communist China. In one particularly lamentable incident on Sunday, Paris Olympics security officials confronted a woman in the audience of a badminton match for holding up a sign simply reading “Go Taiwan,” claiming it to be a banned material. Amid the conversation with security officials, a man assaulted the woman, snatching away her patriotic banner.

Given the lack of recognition, it is unclear how the IOC used Lin’s passport to confirm qualification to participate in the women’s boxing competition.

Both Lin and Khelif have secured at least a bronze medal finish as of Monday. Khelif is scheduled to fight next again on Tuesday against Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand. Lin is scheduled to fight on Wednesday against Esra Yildiz Kahraman on Turkey.

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