Imane Khelif gender row: Leaked report says Olympic gold medalist boxer has male chromosomes. What is the controversy?

Mint

5 days ago

A leaked medical report alleged that Olympic gold medalist boxer Imane Khelif has male chromosomes. The test, originally done in March 2023, led to Khelif's disqualification from the Women's World Boxing Championships in New Delhi.
The medical report, done by diagnostic services provider Dr LalPath Labs, said that Khelif had male chromosomes. According to a TOI report, the test results, accessed by 3 Wire Sports through Telegraph Sport, said, 'Chromosome analysis reveals male karyotype'.
Imane Khelif had won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, sparking controversy over gender eligibility in women's sports.
It is to be noted that the World Boxing Organisation announced on 31 May that Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to participate in upcoming events with the sport's new governing body, according to an AP report.
The governing body announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes. The report added that it specifically mentioned Khelif when announcing the policy, saying the Algerian gold medal winner must be screened before she will be approved to fight at any upcoming events, including the Eindhoven Box Cup next month in the Netherlands.
'The introduction of mandatory testing will be part of a new policy on Sex, Age and Weight to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women,' World Boxing wrote in a statement.
In August last year, Italian boxer Angela Carini had abandoned the bout against Khelif after just 46 seconds at the 2024 Paris Olympics, attracting a massive controversy, especially after Khelif's 2023 disqualification over gender eligibility.
Carini decided to pull out of the bout after receiving blows to her nose, which she described as "harder than she had ever been hit". 'I got into the ring to fight. I didn't give up, but one punch hurt too much, and so I said enough. I'm going out with my head held high," she told the BBC then.
While the International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified Khelif in 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed her to participate in the 2024 Olympics, which stripped the IBA of its status over governing issues.
The IOC had said that competitors were eligible for the women's division in Paris if their passports said they were females. After Carini had abandoned her bout, the IOC had made it clear that it was 'not a transgender case'.
The IBA has long been critical of the IOC's decision to permit Khelif to compete.
Just hours before her gold-medal showdown against China's Yang Liu, Khelif had failed a gender eligibility test conducted by the IBA. Although she had initially appealed against the decision, her plea was later withdrawn during the process, a BBC report said.
The Russian-led IBA said Khelif 'failed to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women's competition, as set and laid out in the IBA regulations'.
According to the IBA's regulations: 'Boxers will compete against boxers of the same gender, meaning women vs women and men vs men as per the definitions of these rules.'
The IBA defines a woman, female or girl as 'an individual with chromosome XX' and men, males or boys as 'an individual with chromosome XY'.
The IBA denied Khelif's testosterone levels had been tested, but told BBC that XY chromosomes were found in Khelif's tests.
(With inputs from agencies)