Lin Yu-ting (l.) has already fought his way to the semi-finals in Paris.
Photo: imago/AAP
This press conference will go down in Olympic history. The World Boxing Association (IBA), which has been suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for corruption since 2019, invited people to a Paris ballroom to clarify the case of the two boxers Imane Khelif from Algeria and Lin Yu-ting from Taiwan. All that was left was chaos.
First, the journalists were kept waiting in the packed room for more than an hour. When IBA President Imar Kremlev, who was connected online, finally wanted to make his statement from Russia, he could not be heard. And the embarrassment continued: journalists tore the microphone out of their hands, and interpreters could not be understood. In the end, IBA general secretary Chris Roberts and its president contradicted each other. An association that wanted to portray itself as the only important voice in boxing failed miserably once again.
Khelif and Lin are in the Olympic semi-finals and are already guaranteed medals. The IBA disqualified them from the 2023 World Cup because they failed gender tests, but they are allowed to compete at the Olympics because the IOC considers the evidence to be insufficient. This skepticism has become more understandable since Monday afternoon. First there was Kremlin, who once again personally attacked IOC President Thomas Bach and spent half an hour more swearing than clarifying things. He only cared about protecting “real” women: “Today we are destroying women’s sports. But I’m here to prevent that.” Donald Trump could hardly have put it more arrogantly.
Roberts said opposing coaches and athletes demanded gender tests for Khelif and Lin because they appeared male. The first tests in Istanbul in 2022 were still ambiguous. In March 2023, new results showed “chromosomes that would exclude both boxers from participating.” According to Roberts, no more can be published due to personal rights. A few minutes later, Kremlev accused both boxers of having male chromosomes and elevated testosterone levels.
Finally, the IBA called out its long-time medical director Ioannis Filippatos, who has been practicing as a surgeon and gynecologist for 30 years: “I have carried out 5,000 operations. I know who a woman is,” he claimed. And a genetic XY karyotype is clearly male. He has apparently never heard of XY women, who can still be anatomically female. For this reason, no association other than the IBA carries out such genetic tests anymore. Testosterone levels alone are also not a clear indication of physical benefits, which Khelif and Lin have not yet proven. There are no reports of any of the two opponents being seriously injured. They have also already been defeated.
Only three things have now been clarified: the IBA uses controversial tests, it has a self-absorbed president and it doesn’t shine with competence on other levels either. The IOC must have enjoyed this boxing show.