Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting have been cleared to compete at the Paris Olympics despite being disqualified from last year’s World Championships after they were said to have failed gender eligibility tests.
Khelif, 25, is guaranteed at least a bronze medal after beating Hungarian Luca Anna Hamori in Saturday’s welterweight quarter-final.
Lin competes in the featherweight quarter-final on Sunday after victory over Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova.
Their participation in the Games has proved controversial given their disqualifications in 2023.
Earlier this week Khelif’s first bout was abandoned after 46 seconds by Italian opponent Angela Carini.
This led to some criticising the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for allowing the entry of a boxer who it is said previously failed to meet gender eligibility criteria.
Italian Carini said she ended the fight to “preserve her life”, but apologised to her Algerian opponent on Friday, saying “if the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision”.
Khelif, speaking after her victory, said: “I’m here for the gold – I fight everybody.”
Lin won her first fight at Paris 2024 on Friday – the 28-year-old entering the arena to cheers and some boos – before beating Turdibekova in the 57kg category.
The International Boxing Association (IBA), which was the previous organiser of Olympic boxing, has been a vocal critic of the IOC’s decision to permit the two athletes to compete.
Here BBC Sport takes you through some of the key questions around the topic.
What sex were Khelif and Lin assigned at birth? Were they born biologically male or female?
Khelif has always competed in the women’s division and is recognised by the IOC as a female athlete.
“The Algerian boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said on Friday.
“This is not a transgender case. There has been some confusion that somehow it’s a man fighting a woman. This is just not the case. On that there is consensus, scientifically this is not a man fighting a woman.”
Khelif has spoken about her experience of growing up as a girl in Algeria and the prejudice she faced playing football alongside boys.
“Don’t let obstacles come in your way, resist any obstacles and overcome them,” she said in March 2024. “My dream is to win a gold medal.
“If I win, mothers and fathers can see how far their children can go. I particularly want to inspire girls and children who are disadvantaged in Algeria.”
There is no suggestion Khelif identifies as anything other than a woman.
Lin has also always competed in the women’s division and is recognised by the IOC as a female athletes. BBCSport