IOC president backs Khelif and Yu-ting’s participation
IOC president Thomas Bach has supported boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting’s participation in the Paris Olympics 2024. Bach stated that Lin and Khelif were born and raised as women, and that their passports reflect this.
The IOC president’s statement came amid a heated gender debate about the two at the boxing event at the Paris Olympics 2024. Khelif of Algeria won a welterweight round-of-16 bout against Angela Carini of Italy in 46 seconds, sparking a debate. Lin Yu-Ting, a Vietnamese boxer, was also at the center of the controversy, along with Khelif.
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‘They were born as women and raised as women’, says Thomas Bach
“Let us be quite clear here. We’re talking about women’s boxing, and we’ve got two boxers who were born as women, raised as women, have a woman’s passport, and have competed as women for years. And this is a clear definition of a lady. “There was never any doubt that they were a woman,” the IOC president told reporters.
The IOC’s decision to qualify Lin Yu-Ting and Image Khelif for the Paris Olympics 2024 was put into question. Algeria’s Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting were cleared to compete in Paris despite being disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for failing to meet the International Boxing Association’s eligibility criterion.
According to their rules, athletes with male XY chromosomes were forbidden from competing in women’s events. The International Olympic Committee removed the IBA’s international recognition last year.
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“What we’re seeing now is that certain people try to define who a woman is. And there, all I can do is invite them to create a scientifically grounded new definition of who a woman is. And how can someone be born, raised, compete, and have a passport, when a woman cannot be deemed a woman? If they come up with something, we are willing to listen and investigate.”
“But we will not participate in a politically motivated cultural war. And let me emphasize that what is happening in this context, on social media, with all of this hate speech, aggressiveness, and abuse, all driven by this agenda, is completely unacceptable,” Bach added.
