- Bacyadan is the only transgender boxer competing in Paris
- It went unnoticed before the outrage over the fighters
- A Filipino boxer has important reasons for wanting to ban them from using drugs
Hergie Bacyadan identifies as a man. He fought against women at the Paris Olympics without scandal or fanfare, and now wants athletes who fail gender tests to be banned from competitive boxing.
Algerian wrestler Imane Khelif has dominated the headlines after powering her way to victory over Italy’s Angela Carini in just 46 seconds despite failing a gender test last year.
Attention will now also turn to Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who is looking to reach the featherweight medal rounds and is on course to clash with Australia’s Tina Rahimi.
Last year, both Khelif and Lin were found to have failed gender eligibility tests and were banned from fighting at the world championships.
The president of the International Boxing Association (IBA) said a test showed Khelif, 25, has XY male chromosomes. She is not transgender.
Both fighters are women on their passports, and both have been allowed to compete at the Paris Olympics despite those bans.
Its admission to the Paris Games is the result of a schism between the International Olympic Committee and the IBA.
The IOC stripped the organization of its right to organize Olympic competitions and assumed governance of sport at the Paris Games.
Hergie Bacyadan identifies as a transgender man and was allowed to compete against women at the Paris Olympics.
Bacyadan (right) was defeated by Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Qian Li of China this week in Paris (pictured)
Lin is not transgender and Khelif has reportedly said she is not intersex, but her admission has sparked a debate on social media over whether they should be allowed to compete against biological women.
Hergie Bacyadan is, by her own admission, the only transgender boxer competing at the Paris Olympics.
The Filipino wrestler identifies as a trans man and was allowed by the IOC to compete in Paris, losing to defending Asian Games champion and Tokyo silver medalist Li Quan of China (a biological woman) in his opening bout.
“It’s sad to think about losing, but I’m still very grateful to have made it to the Olympics,” he wrote on Instagram at the time.
“For me it is very important.”
That occasion came and went without the attention that Khelif and Yu-ting had attracted.
Bacyadan said athletes with male chromosomes and elevated testosterone levels should not be allowed to fight biological women.
Algerian wrestler Imane Khelif was born female but was banned from the 2023 world championships after reportedly taking a test showing she has the male XY chromosome.
Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting also has the XY chromosome and was also banned from competition by the International Boxing Association in 2023.
Although Bacyadan identifies as male, he has never formally transitioned or undergone hormone therapy.
“I will never take ‘T’ (testosterone) and I will never be on ‘T’, but I still consider myself a trans man because my heart tells me so,” he posted on Instagram.
Bacyadan’s coaching staff still refers to him as “she” and “her” and claims that the fighter is 100 percent biologically female.
A Filipino translator said: ‘She is competing in the women’s division, but in her heart and mind, when she is outside the boxing ring, she is like a man.
‘All of his tests are Y, so he doesn’t know anything about the other competitors.’
Bacyadan identifies as a man, but has not undergone hormone therapy or taken testosterone, which would jeopardize his boxing career.
Asked whether XY athletes should be allowed to compete against women, Bacyadan said: “In sparring it’s fine, but if they have XY chromosomes in competition, they have to abide by the rules.”
Bacyadan added on social media: “I am trans at heart, but I did not take hormones or steroids to look like a man. If I compete in the women’s division, I don’t think there would be any problem.”
He also promised to fight again for his nation.
“To all Filipinos, I am sorry to disappoint you. I promise that I will fight for our country again and work harder in the future.”