- Two transgender boxers have been allowed to fight at the Paris Olympics
- Imane Khelif, from Algeria, and Lin Yu-Ting, from Taiwan, are the boxers in question.
- Footage of Khelif delivering heavy blows to a former opponent has gone viral
Images have emerged on social media of a transgender boxer, who was allowed to compete at the Olympics, delivering brutal blows to a female opponent.
Two boxers who were banned from world championships for being considered biologically male have been allowed to compete in the Olympics as women.
A controversy erupted in Paris after it emerged that Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting were banned from the tournament last year amid questions about their biological sex.
But IOC chiefs said both men meet the eligibility criteria and will box in the coming days.
However, now, images that in X The image showing Khelif dominating one of her previous opponents went viral as fans reacted to the news of her inclusion in the Olympics.
Footage has emerged on social media of a transgender boxer, who was allowed to compete at the Olympics, delivering brutal blows to a previous female opponent.
Imane Khelif (pictured) from Algeria is one of two female boxers allowed to compete at the Olympics despite being banned from the world championships.
A video showed Khelif landing heavy blows to the head of her Mexican opponent Brianda Tamara in December 2022.
The video’s caption told fans to “note the power of the punches” displayed by Khelif as he unleashed a flurry of punches on his opponent.
After the disqualification, Mexican Tamara recounted her own experience of fighting Khelif earlier in the tournament.
“When I fought her I felt so out of place,” she wrote in X. “Her punches hurt me so much, I don’t think I had ever felt that way in my 13 years as a boxer, or in my sparring with men. Thank God I got out of the ring safe and sound that day, and it’s good that they finally noticed.”
Both Khelif and Yu-Ting were disqualified from the Women’s World Boxing Championships in March 2023 in New Delhi after a series of DNA tests were ordered amid concerns about the gender of some of the contestants.
At the time, Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association (IBA), claimed that tests had shown that athletes including Khelif and Yu-Ting had “XY chromosomes”.
Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting (left) will join Khelif in competing at the Paris Olympics this summer.
Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association, had previously claimed that tests had shown the athletes had “XY chromosomes”.
He added that “they discovered athletes trying to deceive their colleagues and pretend to be women.”
But the IBA has been stripped of the right to host Olympic boxing competitions amid concerns over governance and the IOC says all athletes involved are eligible to compete, with current rules seen as more relaxed than those of the IBA.
Following last year’s ban, the Algerian Olympic Committee hit back, claiming the disqualification was part of a “conspiracy” to prevent them from winning a gold medal and said there were “medical reasons” behind high testosterone levels.