Paris Olympics 2024: ‘Who cares about fair competition,’ Netizens fume as women’s boxing match sparks gender row

Paris Olympics 2024: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday defended its decision to permit two female boxers with male XY chromosomes to compete at the Paris Olympics 2024, reported Reuters.

Earlier, the International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified Algerian Imane Khelif and Taiwan's double world champion Lin Yu-ting from contesting at the 2023 World Championships due to eligibility rules that prevent athletes with male XY chromosomes from competing in women’s events.

Despite the gender row, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stood firm in its decision and said the pair were facing “aggression” because of IBA's “arbitrary decision”.

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The Algerian player, who won her round of 16 welterweight bout over Italian Angela Carini in 46 seconds, and the Taiwanese player, who will be competing today, have been cleared to compete in the Summer Olympics.

Last year, the IOC stripped the IBA of its recognition over governance and finance issues. Hence, the Olympic body is running the boxing competition in Paris. 

The IOC said in a statement, “These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA,” reported Reuters. It added, “According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO.”

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Netizens fumed at this development, with one user stating, “These Boxing "Women" are Hermaphrodites at the very least! One has XY chromosomes. They were barred from IOC. I know science hard, that be a man [sic].” 

Another user posted, “XY chromosomes still mean you’re a male, but the IOC allows men pretending to be women to beat up women in the name of boxing [sic].”

A third user commented, "The International Boxing governing body did the test, IOC chose to ignore that and use his passport that listed him as female." 

A fourth user remarked, “Absolutely wrong to bring a transgender into a woman’s boxing at the Olympics shame on you IOC [sic]." 

A fifth user stated, “The IOC has basically said they do not care and are running things how they want, because who cares about fair competition, right [sic]?”