- Olympic President Thomas Bach held an impromptu press conference on Saturday to defend the status of Algerian Imane Khelif and Taiwanese Lin Yu-Ting as women.
Olympic chief Thomas Bach has responded to the gender controversy in boxing that has engulfed the Games, saying both athletes at the centre of the storm meet “the clear definition of a woman”.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting have been cleared to compete in the women’s section in Paris despite being disqualified from last year’s World Championships after reportedly failing gender tests, and the resulting furore threatened to overshadow the competition.
Both emerged victorious in their opening fights, with Khelif, who will fight later on Saturday, advancing in her welterweight clash with Angela Carini after the tearful Italian retired just 46 seconds in, later saying she quit “to preserve my life”.
The issue has sparked a polarised global debate. But Bach, who made an unexpected appearance at a news conference on Saturday morning, criticised the “hate speech” directed at both athletes and added that he had no problem with their participation.
“Bringing an end to this dispute depends more on you than on us,” he told reporters.
Thomas Bach defends Algerian Imane Khelif amid their dispute over gender in boxing
Bach also backed Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting, who has also been in the eye of the boxing gender storm.
On Saturday, Bach criticised “hate speech” directed at the two, saying they are women.
‘We’re talking about women’s boxing. We have two boxers who were born as women, who were raised as women, who have a women’s passport and who have competed for many years as women. That is the clear definition of a woman. There was never any doubt that they were women.’
Bach also said the IOC was working within the only framework available.
“What we see now is that some people want to appropriate the definition of who is a woman,” said the German.
“I can only invite you to come up with a new science-based definition of who a woman is and how can someone who was born, raised and competed as a woman not be considered a woman. If you come up with something, we are willing to look at it, but we will not engage in a politically motivated culture war. Let me just say that what is happening in this context on social media with all this hate speech, aggression and abuse, fueled by this agenda, is totally unacceptable.”
The IBA, which is effectively at war with the IOC, has not provided clear details beyond saying both failed gender tests that were carried out after concerns were raised.
The decision to expel the boxers was taken by the Russian-led IBA, which was stripped of its role as organiser of the Olympic competition amid concerns over governance.
Khelif won her women’s welterweight fight when Angela Carini (right) quit
The Italian boxer fell to her knees after withdrawing and was seen crying in the ring
Khelif’s participation in the event has been a source of controversy after she was disqualified from the Women’s World Boxing Championships last year.
Uzbek boxer Sitora Turdibekova was seen crying after losing to Lin
Lin won her opening fight at the women’s featherweight boxing event on Friday afternoon.
Asked whether the furore was the result of a Russian disinformation campaign aimed at destabilising the Games, Bach replied: “What we have seen from the Russian side and in particular from the IBA, whose recognition we had to withdraw for many reasons, is that they have long before these Games undertaken a smear campaign against France, against the Games, against the IOC.”
Bach added: “They have made a number of comments on this subject which I do not wish to repeat. If you want to get an idea of the credibility of the information coming from this unrecognised federation, I can only suggest that you examine the comments they have made recently and form your own opinions.”