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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) faced backlash after President Thomas Bach defended the participation of boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting in women’s competitions, despite claims that they tested as biological males with XY chromosomes.
The situation arose following their disqualification by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for allegedly attempting to compete as women.
In a press conference, Bach mistakenly clarified the classification of the athletes, later prompting an official correction to specify that he meant to refer to transgender issues rather than Differences in Sexual Development (DSD).
CORRECTION
In today’s IOC – Paris 2024 press briefing, IOC President Bach said:
“But I repeat, here, this is not a DSD case, this is about a woman taking part in a women’s competition, and I think I have explained this many times.”What was intended was:
“But I repeat, here,…— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) August 3, 2024
“Based on DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to trick their colleagues into posing as women. According to the results of the tests, it was proved that they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from competition,” IBA President Umar Kremlev said.
“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 said.
Following Khelif’s recent victories, including a swift win over Italy’s Angela Carini, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticized the IOC for allowing competitors with male genetic characteristics in women’s events, arguing it jeopardizes women’s rights.
“I have been trying to explain for years that some beliefs, taken to the extreme, risk impacting women’s rights. I think that athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women’s competitions but not because they want to discriminate against anyone but to protect the right of female athletes to be able to compete on equal terms,” Meloni said.
Despite criticism from both the right and left, Bach maintained that the IOC would not engage in a “politically motivated cultural war” while calling for a scientifically based definition of a woman.
“What we see now is that some want to own the definition of who is a woman… And there I can only invite them to come up with a scientific-based new definition of who is a woman. And how can somebody be born, raised, compete and have a passport, as a woman cannot be considered a woman if they are coming up with something, we are ready to listen, we are ready to look into it,” Bach said.
“But we will not take part in a politically motivated cultural war. And allow me to say that what is going on in this context, in the social media with all this hate speech, with this aggression and abuse, and fuelled by this agenda, is totally unacceptable.”
