The eligibility issue for Algerian boxer Imane Khelif to compete in the Olympic Games continues days after she defeated Italy's Angela Carini in a bout that lasted less than a minute.
Khalif has been accused of competing in the wrong gender category by some who claim she was disqualified from last year's women's world championships, along with Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, after they failed a gender eligibility test due to high levels of testosterone in their system.
Hungary's Anna-Luka Hamori, who Khalif will face in her next boxing match later today, has sparked further tension and anger after posting a meme on her Instagram account of Khalif as a cartoonish Hulk-like monster looking at a young girl. The image came after comments she made saying she “doesn't care about stories, what's happening on social media now. I just want to stay focused on myself and know why I came here. I want to get a medal from the Olympics. So I don't care about anything. I'm going to go to the ring and I'm going to win.”
During today's media briefing, IOC President Thomas Bach reiterated the organization's position on gender eligibility rules and the dispute over Khalifa's participation in women's boxing at the Paris Olympics.
“Let’s be very clear, here we are talking about women’s boxing and we have two boxers who were born as women, raised as women, have women’s passports and have competed for many years as women. That is the clear definition of a woman,” said Bach, a German lawyer, former fencer and Olympic gold medalist.
“There was no doubt about them being women, what we see now is that some people want to have a definition of who a woman is and here I can only call on them to come up with a scientific definition based on your definition of who a woman is and how a person who was born and raised can compete and has a passport as a woman and cannot be considered a woman,” he added.
“If they come up with something, we are ready to listen to it, we are ready to consider it. But we will not engage in a sometimes politically motivated culture war. And let me say that what is happening in this context in social media with all this hate speech, aggression and abuse, which is fueled by this agenda is absolutely unacceptable,” Bach added.
Asked about the Hungarian boxer's comments, Bach said: “On social media, there are not only athletes, and I am not going to comment on every single one of the millions of comments on social media. What is happening there with this hate speech is unacceptable for anyone who uses hate speech.”
Asked about the misleading information spread by the Russian state about boxing this year, Bach said: “We have seen from the Russian side, especially from the International Boxing Federation, which we had to withdraw our recognition from for various reasons, that before these Games they carried out a smear campaign against France, against the Games, against the IOC. They made a number of comments in this regard, which I do not want to repeat so as not to give them too much honor. So if you want to have an idea about the credibility of the information coming from these unrecognized international federations, I can only suggest that you look at the comments that they and the leaders of the federation have made recently and then make your own judgment.”
“The Algerian boxer was born female, registered as female, lived her life as female, boxed as female, and has a female passport. This is not a transgender issue,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said yesterday.
