Olympic champ Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to fight under new boxing body
Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to participate in upcoming events with the sport's new governing body.
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World Boxing announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes on Friday. The governing body specifically mentioned Khelif when announcing the policy, saying the Algerian gold medal winner must be screened before she would 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 would 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.
Taiwanese gold medallist Lin Yu-ting with her medal. Photo: Reuters
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.
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Olympic champ Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to fight under new boxing body
Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to participate in upcoming events with the sport's new governing body. Advertisement World Boxing announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes on Friday. The governing body specifically mentioned Khelif when announcing the policy, saying the Algerian gold medal winner must be screened before she would 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 would 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. Taiwanese gold medallist Lin Yu-ting with her medal. Photo: Reuters 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.
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World Boxing mandates gender tests for all boxers World Boxing says Imane Khelif will not be allowed to compete unless she undergoes a gender test. File photo: AFP World Boxing will introduce mandatory sex testing for all boxers in its competitions, the body said on Friday, adding that Paris Olympics women's welterweight champion Imane Khelif will not be allowed to compete until she undergoes such a test. The governing body, which will run the boxing competitions in the 2028 Olympics after being granted provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee, said it aims to deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women. "Imane Khelif may not participate in the female category at the Eindhoven Box Cup, 5-10 June 2025 and 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. 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," the statement added. The test can be conducted by a nasal or mouth swab, or by taking a sample of saliva or blood. National federations will be responsible for testing and will be required to confirm the sex of their athletes when entering them into World Boxing competitions by producing certification of their chromosomal sex, as determined by a PCR test. (Agencies)
