AFPImane Khelif
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 19:49
Since Italian boxer Angela Carina gave up in tears yesterday at the Olympic tournament in Paris against Algerian Imane Khelif, there has been a lot of discussion on social media. According to the Italian, it was not a fair fight. Last year, the now no longer recognized International Boxing Association (IBA) stated that Khelif did not pass a gender test. The results of that test have not been made public.
Under the last Instagram-post Khelif has people speculating about her gender. Some suggest she is a man, while others support her. Many reactions come from Italy, the home country of Khelif’s opponent.
For example, someone writes: “As an Italian I am so proud of you. You have won against the ignorance of our politicians and media.” Both the negative and positive reactions receive tens of thousands of likes.
Italian Prime Minister Meloni responded yesterday: “Athletes who have genetically male characteristics should not be allowed to participate in women’s competitions.”
1. What do we know about Imane Khelif?
Imane Khelif is a 25-year-old boxer from Algeria. She was born as a woman and this is also stated in her passport. As an experienced amateur boxer, she won silver at the 2022 World Championships. A year later, she was disqualified from the World Championships in New Delhi just before the final, because she failed a test according to the IBA.
There is no evidence that Khelif is intersex. In 2023, she told the French Press Agency AFP that she is the victim of a conspiracy theory.
2. What do we know about the IBA test?
Little is known about the IBA test. We know nothing about the nature of the test, what was tested, and who tested.
IBA chairman Umar Kremliv of Russia told Russian state media last year that Khelif had both the X and male Y chromosome hasThere is no further evidence for this.
Last Wednesday the IBA proposed that no testosterone tests were taken at the time, but that it was a “separate, recognized test, the details of which are confidential.”
The IBA has not been recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since last year, due to problems with integrity and financial policy.
Angela Carini said today that she wants to apologize for her behavior after the match. She regrets not shaking hands with Khelif and says she regrets the fuss about the match. “If the IOC says she can participate, I will respect that decision.”
3. What does the IOC think about the fuss?
The IOC announced this morning that she finds the IBA’s decision to disqualify the boxers last year “arbitrary”. In addition to Khelif, this also refers to boxer Lin Yu-ting, who previously also failed an IBA test.
“Towards the end of the World Championships, they were disqualified without any due process,” the IOC said. “According to the IBA minutes, this decision was initially made solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO.”
The IOC regrets “the verbal abuse the two athletes are currently experiencing” and states that everyone has the right to participate in sport without discrimination.
4. Does the IOC test female athletes?
The Olympic Games organization does not conduct a DNA test that would reveal an athlete’s biological sex.
Until 1996, a gender test was mandatory for all female athletes at the Olympic Games. Sports scientist Wim Derave of the Belgian university UGent explains in the NOS Radio 1 Journal that this was to “provide some kind of proof that you are actually a woman. Those tests showed that 5 to 8 female athletes also had a Y chromosome, these were intersex athletes.”
“They often didn’t even know it themselves,” says Derave. “And that causes problems: systematically testing people without them asking for it and then they find out that there is something ‘not normal’ about their body. I can understand that systematic testing was eventually stopped.”
5. What are intersex athletes?
If you are an intersex person, you have both male and female (sex) characteristics. The intersex spectrum is broad and the differences between individuals are great.
It can be clear at birth that someone is intersex, but sometimes people only find out later, through an ultrasound or other examination. For example, if someone develops completely female on the outside, but has the ‘male’ XY chromosomes on the inside.
“That is very rare,” sports scientist Derave knows. But there are all sorts of variations. According to the Sex Diversity Foundation, 0.5 percent of the population has a Differences of Sex Development (DSD) diagnosis. Among top athletes, that percentage is 3 to 4 times higher, according to the foundation.
According to Derave, this suggests that intersex athletes have an advantage. “They are coming out on top in women’s sports because they probably still have a residual advantage over XX women because of that Y chromosome.”
