'Absolute nonsense!’ Campaigner rages at IOC as it defends allowing boxers who failed gender tests to compete at Paris 2024: ‘Deliberate obfuscation'

'Absolute nonsense!’ Campaigner rages at IOC as it defends allowing boxers who failed gender tests to compete at Paris 2024: ‘Deliberate obfuscation'

‘Absolute nonsense!’ Campaigner rages at IOC as it defends allowing boxers who failed gender tests to compete at Olympics

GB New
Gabrielle Wilde

By Gabrielle Wilde


Published: 01/08/2024

- 16:30

Updated: 01/08/2024

- 16:39

Two boxers who were disqualified from last year's boxing World Champion­ships for failing gender eligibility tests are competing in the Paris Olympics

A campaigner has been left furious at the International Olympic Committee after it allowed boxers to compete who had failed the gender test last year.

Imane Khelif of Algeria was disqualified from the boxing championship due to her "high levels of testosterone" and fought Italy's Angela Carini today at the Olympics.


Carini's fight with her Algerian opponent took just 46 seconds, with the Italian throwing her helmet onto the floor as the clash was abandoned, yelling: "This is unjust."

Fiona Mcanena, the author of Fair Play for Women, has blasted the Olympic Committee and said that it makes the competition "dangerous."

Fiona Mcanena

Fiona Mcanena slammed it as "absolute nonsense"

GB News

Mcanena told GB News: "What happened here is that the Italian woman, at the height of her career, basically had to concede for her own safety.

"We don't know who would have won if they'd gone on to fight, but that's irrelevant because we're in a situation where in a sport where safety is a big problem. That woman didn't feel safe. And that's shocking."

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She added: "The IOC spokesman, Mark Adams, this morning said in a press conference that women can be in the range of male testosterone, that some women do have male levels of testosterone.

"I'm afraid that's just not correct. If someone had an adrenal tumour, if they were very ill, they might be producing that level of testosterone but they're not going to be at the Olympics.

"Even women with polycystic ovary syndrome, which is something that can enable you to still do sport but raise testosterone levels in women. They don't approach the levels of men.

"So that's absolute nonsense, it's deliberate obfuscation. This person has male advantage. And it's not just one thing.

Imane KhelifImane Khelif is arguably the most controversial athlete at the Paris OlympicsREUTERS

"It's dozens and dozens of things that mean that they don't belong in female sports."

The IOC said in a statement: "All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition's eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations in accordance with rules 1.4 and 3.1 of the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit.

"The PBU endeavoured to restrict amendments to minimise the impact on athletes' preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games."

Olympics Imane KhelifOlympics fans have raged after Imane Khelif beat Angela Carini in the boxing on ThursdayGETTY

Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan and Imane Khelif of Algeria are competing at their second Summer Games.

Both finished outside the medals at the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.

Imane Khelif was disqualified from the boxing championship due to her "high levels of testosterone" and Lin Yu-ting was disqualified from the same competitions for "failing to meet the gender eligibility tests."

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