Imane Khelif and Yu Ting: Banned by Boxing Association but allowed by IOC to fight in Women's boxing despite failing gender tests

One has already featured at the Paris Olympics in women's boxing 66kg ­cate­gory while one is supposed to feature 57kg cate­gory on Friday, and both are at the centre of attraction for the last two days. But why? Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu‑ting of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) failed the gender eligibility tests during the 2023 World Championships but were allowed to fight in women's boxing at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024.

Why did IBA ban them?

As per the International Boxing Association's president Umar Kremlev, "both boxers have XY chromosomes" which made them ineligible for the World Championships last year. Both Imane and Lin were scrapped from their medals, “following a comprehensive review and was intended to uphold the fairness and integrity of the competition”, as cited by IBA.

After the International Olympic Committee allowed both the boxers in the Women's category, the internet reacted with terms like, "they are allowing men in women's boxing". Barry McGuigan, a former boxing World Champion wrote on X, “It’s shocking that they were ­actually allowed to get this far, what is going on?”

The world saw what happened when Imane Khelif took on the boxing ring against Italy's Angela Carini. Carini was first punched in the face by Khelif and just after 46 seconds of the match, she decided not to fight anymore, which was later confirmed by Emanuele Renzini, Italy's boxing coach.

Soon after that, the internet started filled with posts with #IStandWithAngelaCarini. 

This woman, Angela Carini, is crying because her dream of winning a medal for her late father was destroyed in 46 seconds.



Male boxer Imane Khelif beat up Angela Carini and punched her in the face.#IStandWithAngelaCarini #Paris2024 



The @Olympics should be ashamed pic.twitter.com/Ic8hjU1sMD

— 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 (@Matt_Pinner) August 1, 2024

Why did the IOC allow them?

But, the thing is that the IOC has banned the International Boxing Association from running the Olympic boxing tournament due to governance issues and controversial judgement scandals. Thus, the IOC has created the "Paris 2024 Boxing Unit" to run the boxing tournament at the Olympics.

The Paris 2024 Boxing Unit have relaxed rules than IBA and used the rules of the Tokyo Olympics as a baseline for the rules for Paris 2024. 

“The PBU used the Tokyo 2020 ­boxing rules (enforced at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the related quali­fying tournaments) as a baseline to develop its regulations. Those rules descended from the Rio 2016 rules. The PBU endeavoured to restrict amendments to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games," IOC stated. 

The IOC has acknowledged the fact that both Imane Khelif and Lin Yu‑ting have failed the gender eligibility tests via their MyInfo website. 

The website stated that Khelif was “disqualified just hours before her gold medal showdown against Yang Liu at the 2023 world championships in New Delhi, India after her elevated ­levels of testosterone failed to meet the eligibility criteria” while acknowledging that Lin was “stripped of her bronze medal after failing to meet eligibility requirements based on the results of a biochemical test.

But IOC has not given any detail on what criteria both the boxers were allowed to participate in the Women's category.

It will be interesting to see what happens when Lin Yu‑ting takes on Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan in the 57kg category on Friday.