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PARIS: Two boxers who were disqualified from last year’s world championships are appearing at the Paris Olympics, reigniting debate over whether athletes with differences in sex development (DSD) should compete in the women’s event.
What is DSD?
DSDs are a group of rare conditions involving genes, hormones, and reproductive organs. Some people with DSDs are raised as females but have XY sex chromosomes, blood testosterone levels in the male range, and are able to use the testosterone circulating in their bodies.
Why is this a problem in sports?
Most sports have women’s categories to acknowledge the distinct advantages that male puberty brings to athletes.
This advantage is not only reflected in higher testosterone levels, but also in muscle mass, bone advantages, and faster twitch muscles.
In combat sports such as boxing, this can be a serious safety issue.
What’s wrong with the Paris Olympics?
At last year’s world championships in New Delhi, boxers Imani Khalif and Lin Yuting violated the International Boxing Association (IBA) eligibility rules, which prohibit athletes with XY chromosomes from competing in women’s events.
Algeria’s Khelif was disqualified hours before the gold medal match in New Delhi, while Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Dan also lost his bronze medal for not meeting the standards.
Why are they allowed to compete in the Olympics?
AIBA was stripped of its status as boxing’s global governing body by the International Olympic Committee last June after failing to complete reforms over management, financial and ethical issues.
The IOC will therefore allow boxing at the Paris Games, just as it did at the Tokyo Games, and apply its rules on the inclusion of disabled athletes in the women’s competition and gender diversity.
The most recent IOC guidelines, published in 2021, state that inclusion should be the default approach in such cases and that athletes should be excluded from women’s competitions only if there are clear fairness or safety issues.
“The federations need to make rules that ensure fairness, but also that everyone who wants to participate can participate. It’s a difficult balance,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Tuesday.
“Ultimately it’s up to the experts in the various disciplines to decide. They know very well where there is an advantage, and if it’s a big advantage, then that’s obviously unacceptable. But the decision needs to be made at that level.”
Is there a similar situation at the Paris Olympics?
Zambia women’s football captain Barbara Banda has been ruled out of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations after failing the Confederation of African Football (CAF) gender eligibility test.
The 24-year-old captained her country at last year’s Women’s World Cup and scored a first-half hat trick in the 6-5 defeat to Australia at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
FIFA, the governing body for Olympic soccer, is still using rules first issued in 2011 that state only men are eligible to compete in the men’s competition, and the same is true for women. FIFA is reviewing its policy but has no timeline for completion.
What has happened in other sports?
South Africa’s double Olympic 800m track and field champion Caster Semenya has been unwittingly at the centre of this issue for more than a decade.
Over the past few years, governing bodies for sports such as athletics, cycling, swimming and rugby have tightened rules to exclude athletes who have the advantage of male puberty from some or all women’s competitions.
Since 2018, Semenya has not been allowed to compete in any distance between 400 meters and a mile unless she keeps her testosterone levels low (which requires medication).
In May, she continued her case against World Athletics in front of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). That case is still ongoing.
What does the International Olympic Committee say about boxers?
The International Olympic Committee defended its decision to allow the two boxers to compete.
“I would just like to say that all the athletes competing in the women’s events complied with the eligibility regulations,” IOC spokesman Adams said on Tuesday. “It says in their passports that they are women, and that is indeed the case.”
What do other boxers say?
“If you’re talking about fighting real men, no, I don’t like fighting men. But in terms of their situation, I can’t be specific because I don’t know their situation or their circumstances,” Australian boxer Tiana Echegaray said on Wednesday.
“Biologically and genetically they have more advantages, and in combat sports that can be dangerous,” said Australian boxer Caitlin Parker.
“I think she’s a very strong female boxer. She has a good chance to win. I have confidence in her. She’s very confident,” said Chia Wei Kan, Lin’s Taiwanese teammate.
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