International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has defended two boxers at the centre of criticism at the Paris Olympics, insisting that there was “never any doubt” they are women.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting have been the focus of intense attention at the games, after some countries and commentators questioned their gender.
This after the International Boxing Federation previously removed them from the 2023 World Championships, citing gender-based tests that are still unspecified and unproven.
“Let’s be very clear, we are talking about women’s boxing.
We have two boxers who were born as a woman, who have been raised as a woman, who have a passport as a woman and who have competed for many years as a woman.
This is the clear definition of a woman.
There was never any doubt about them being a woman,” said Bach in a media briefing in Paris.
Khelif was thrown into the spotlight after her Italian opponent Angela Carini abandoned their fight just after 46 seconds, bursting into tears yelling ‘this is unjust’ and that she had never felt such strong blows in a contest before.
Bach described calls for Khelif’s disqualification as hate speech.
“We will not take part in a politically motivated, cultural war.
What is going on in this context in the social media with all this hate speech, with this aggression and abuse, and fuelled by this agenda, is totally unacceptable,” added Bach.
