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ODT Hockey Chat : Nations Trophies

ODT Hockey Chat : Nations Trophies

Today we start a new monthly series of ODT Hockey Chat brought to you by Otago's travel experts Brooker Travel. We called into the brand new turf at the Logan Park McMillan Hockey Centre last Wednesday on Primary School night. We caught up with Matt Arnold from Hockey NZ who is touring the country with the major trophies(Nations Cup) that our national teams won last year. We talk to GM Andy Mclean about the start of the new season and of course we check out the bbq caravan being run by the local LJ Hookers team. We also catch up with two of the rising stars of Otago hockey Hugh Nixon and James Nicholson. We also spot Otago's most famous Olympic Medallist Hamish Bond in the crowd so we stop for a chat to find out what he is doing there.

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Olympic boxer to undergo genetic sex screening for new governing body
Olympic boxer to undergo genetic sex screening for new governing body

1News

timea day ago

  • 1News

Olympic boxer to undergo genetic sex screening for new governing body

Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to participate in upcoming events with the sport's new governing body. World Boxing announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes. The governing body 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. The fighters' national federations will be responsible for administering the tests and providing the results to World Boxing. Khelif won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics last summer amid international scrutiny on her and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, another gold medal winner. The previous governing body for Olympic boxing, the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association, disqualified both fighters from its 2023 world championships after claiming they had failed an unspecified eligibility test. The IOC ran the past two Olympic boxing tournaments after the banishment of the IBA for decades of misdeeds and controversy, and it applied the sex eligibility rules used in previous Olympics. Khelif and Lin were eligible to compete under those standards. ADVERTISEMENT Khelif intends to return to international competition next month in Eindhoven as part of her plan to defend her gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, but some boxers and their federations had already spoken out to protest her inclusion. Chromosome testing was common in Olympic sports during the 20th century but was largely abandoned in the 1990s because of numerous ambiguities that couldn't be easily resolved by the tests, collectively known as differences in sex development (DSD). Many sports switched to hormone testing to determine sex eligibility, but those tests require governing bodies to make difficult decisions on the eligibility of women with naturally high testosterone levels. Three months ago, World Athletics — the governing body for track and field — became the first Olympic sport to reintroduce chromosome testing, requiring athletes who compete in the women's events to submit to the test once in their careers. World Boxing has been provisionally approved to replace the IBA as the governing body at the Los Angeles Games, but it has faced significant pressure from boxers and their federations to create sex eligibility standards. World Boxing announced that all athletes over 18 years old in its competitions must undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genetic test to determine their sex at birth. The PCR test detects chromosomal material through a mouth swab, saliva or blood. If an athlete intending to compete in the women's categories is determined to have male chromosomal material, "initial screenings will be referred to independent clinical specialists for genetic screening, hormonal profiles, anatomical examination or other valuation of endocrine profiles by medical specialists", World Boxing wrote. The policy also includes an appeals process. ADVERTISEMENT The boxing body's decision is the latest development in a tumultuous period in Olympic sex eligibility policy. The issue of transgender participation in sports has become an international flashpoint, with President Donald Trump and other conservative world leaders repeatedly weighing in. Earlier this year, World Athletics also proposed recommendations that would apply strict rules to athletes who were born female but had what the organisation describes as naturally occurring testosterone levels in the typical male range. In 2023, World Athletics banned transgender athletes who had transitioned male to female and gone through male puberty. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said he felt confident that the body's new rules would withstand legal challenges. The 26-year-old Khelif had competed in women's boxing events under the IBA's auspices without controversy until the 2023 world championships. She had never won a major international competition before her dominant performance in the women's welterweight division in Paris.

World Boxing to introduce mandatory sex testing
World Boxing to introduce mandatory sex testing

Otago Daily Times

time2 days ago

  • Otago Daily Times

World Boxing to introduce mandatory sex testing

World Boxing will introduce mandatory sex testing for all boxers in its competitions, the body said on Friday, adding that Paris Olympics gold medallist Imane Khelif will not be allowed to compete until she undergoes such a test. The global body, which will oversee boxing competitions in the 2028 Olympics after being granted provisional recognition by the IOC, said it aimed to deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women. The new policy comes less than a year after Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting both won gold in Paris amid a gender-eligibility row. "Imane Khelif may not participate in the female category at... any World Boxing event until Imane Khelif undergoes genetic sex screening in accordance with World Boxing's rules and testing procedures," World Boxing said in a statement. World Boxing said they had written to the Algerian Boxing Federation stating that Khelif would not be allowed to compete at the upcoming Eindhoven Box Cup from June 5-10 until she underwent the test. Women's welterweight Olympic champion Khelif could not be reached for comment, and the Algerian Boxing Federation did not immediately respond when contacted by Reuters. The country's federation joined World Boxing in September, one of more than 100 national federations that have joined the body since it was established in 2023. While amendments to competition rules are typically done by the World Boxing Congress, the new policy was adopted by the body's executive board which holds the authority to make immediate amendments under "special or emergency circumstances". 'NEW ELIGIBILITY RULES' "These new eligibility rules were developed with the express purpose of safeguarding athletes in combat sports, particularly given the physical risks associated with Olympic-style boxing," it added. All athletes over the age of 18 will have to undertake a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) genetic test, which can be conducted by a nasal or mouth swab, saliva or blood, World Boxing said. "The PCR test is a laboratory technique used to detect specific genetic material, in this case the SRY gene, that reveals the presence of the Y chromosome, which is an indicator of biological sex," World Boxing said. "Athletes that are deemed to be male at birth, as evidenced by the presence of Y chromosome... or with a difference of sexual development (DSD) where male androgenization occurs, will be eligible to compete in the male category. "Athletes that are deemed to be female at birth... or with a DSD where male androgenization does not occur, will be eligible to compete in the female category." In February, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in women's sports. In March, Khelif said she was determined to defend her title at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, adding that she would not be intimidated by Trump as she is not transgender. At the 2023 world championships, Khelif was disqualified by the International Boxing Association after a test that the body said rendered her ineligible to fight as a woman on the grounds of gender. The IBA lost its Olympic recognition over governance issues, however, and the International Olympic Committee cleared Khelif to compete in Paris.

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