IOC Blasts Gender Tests at Center of Gender Controversy: ‘The Whole Process Is Flawed’

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has slammed the procedures and the motivation of the testing procedures behind the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) gender test of Olympic fighters Imane Khelif (Algeria) and Lin Yu-Ting (Taiwan) in 2023.

In 2023, the IBA President Umar Kremlev explained his organization’s decision to disqualify Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting and Algeria’s Imane Khelif from competing in the IBA’s 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships, according to Russia’s Tass News Agency. “Based on DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to trick their colleagues into posing as women. According to the results of the tests, it was proved that they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from competition,” Kremlev said.

However, IOC spokesman Mark Adams questioned not only the IBA’s testing methods and delivery of testing results but even their motivation in testing Khelif and Yu-Ting.

“There’s a whole range of reasons why we won’t deal with this,” Adams said. “Partly confidentiality. Partly medical issues. Partly that, there was no basis for the test in the first place. And partly data sharing of this is also highly against the rules, international rules.

“The whole process is flawed. From the conception of the test, to how the test was shared with us, to how the tests have become public, is so flawed that it’s impossible to engage with it.”

The IBA, however, stands by its policies and the results of its tests.

“We absolutely do not understand why any organization would put a boxer at risk with what could bring a potential serious injury within the ‘Field of Play’ (FOP),” the IBA said. “The main role of the referee in the ring is to manage the boxer’s safety at all times. How is this reasonably practicable when a boxer fails to meet the eligibility criteria to compete?

“The IBA will never support any boxing bouts between the genders, as the organization puts the safety and well-being of our athletes first. We are protecting our women and their rights to compete in the ring against equal rivals, and we will defend and support them in all instances; their hopes and dreams must never be taken away by organizations unwilling to do the right thing under difficult circumstances.”

Khelif has secured at least a bronze medal in the Olympics and will be on the path to gold if victorious against Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand on Tuesday. Both Khelif and Yu-ting are guaranteed medals after multiple comprehensive victories over female opponents.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.