A heated gender debate has broken out at the Olympics surrounding boxer Imane Khelif. Now the boxing association has summoned a press conference in Paris – and is coming under pressure itself.
The boxing association IBA and President Umar Kremlev have sharply attacked the IOC in the gender debate surrounding boxers Imane Khelif from Algeria and Lin Yu-Ting from Taiwan. In a 20-minute speech in Russian, the association boss criticized the Olympic organizers several times, and Bach in particular. “It’s sad to see this. We are destroying the sport in this way,” said Kremlev, who joined the memorable press conference in Paris via video from Russia.
Khelif and Lin were excluded from the World Championships last year after tests because, according to the IBA, they “did not meet the required participation criteria and had competitive advantages compared to other female participants”.
“I want to defend and protect all boxers,” said Kremlev, who spoke loudly and impulsively in front of around 100 journalists and more than a dozen camera teams. He accused Bach of a personal counterattack. “I’m only here to clean up the mess,” Kremlev claimed.
Test results are not published
After Khelif won her first Olympic fight against the Italian Angela Carini by technical knockout after only 46 seconds, a fierce controversy broke out over the right to compete. “She was born a woman, grew up as a woman, has a passport as a woman and has competed as a woman,” IOC President Bach repeatedly justified the permission to participate, which also applied to Lin for the same reasons: “There was never any doubt that they are women.”
The IBA, which had called the press conference at short notice and hastily set it up in the 300 square meter Salon des Mirroirs, outlined the procedure for the tests on Khelif and Lin again on Monday. “The IOC received all this information about the tests from us. The interesting situation here is that the IOC did nothing with it,” said Secretary General Chris Roberts on the only rest day of the boxing competitions at the Olympics. They were “not in a position to publish the test results,” he added.
“Only credible in your own head”
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said a few days ago about the association’s officials: “These people are only credible in their own heads.” Regarding the letter, Adams said that the IOC had not looked into the scientific standards of the analysis because it was not a legitimate source.
The IOC does not recognize the IBA and is once again organizing the boxing tournament at the Olympics itself. The gender stated in the passport is decisive for admission to the competitions in many sports, said Adams. In boxing, the rules were already applied at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and in 2021 in Tokyo as well as in Paris. In 2028, the IOC only wants to organize boxing with a reputable partner. The sport is currently not on the program for Los Angeles.
The event, which began almost an hour late due to organizational problems, was repeatedly plagued by mishaps and tumultuous scenes.
Source: Stern
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