A senior legal academic and women’s rights activist has lashed Olympic organisers for allowing boxers who failed a gender eligibility last year to compete in the women’s event at this year’s Games.
Her comments come after Algerian boxer Imane Khelif claimed victory in her bout against Italian Angela Carini of Italy after Carini withdrew from the fight after just 46 seconds following a brutal blow to the head, with the Italian later saying she needed to “safeguard her life”.
She cried in the ring before leaving.
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Khelif and Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting were cleared to fight in Paris after the IOC last year stripped the International Boxing Association (IBA) of its status as boxing’s governing body over governance issues, and took charge of the Paris 2024 boxing competition.
Both had been disqualified at the 2023 World Championships after failing IBA eligibility rules that prevent athletes with male XY chromosomes competing in women’s events.
The IOC has since claimed Khelif and Lin “were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision” when they were “suddenly disqualified without any due process” from the IBA.
It also backed the rules in place for Paris, noting they had been developed since Rio 2016 and applied throughout the qualifying period for this year’s Olympics.
Khelif, 25, has always competed as a woman and previously fought at the Tokyo Olympics.
But University of Notre Dame Australia law lecturer and Women’s Forum Australia CEO Rachael Wong slammed the IOC over the decision to clear the pair to compete.
“It is just insane — it used to be the case that if you were a man beating up a woman you’d go to prison but now you get to be celebrated as an elite Olympic athlete,” she told Sky News Australia.
“The reason we even have single-sex sport in the first place is to preserve fairness and safety for female athletes, particularly in contact sports like boxing.
“But we are in a situation now where gender ideology has captured sport entirely. Some sports internationally are pushing back … the International Olympic Committee a few years ago made their rules even more relaxed,” Wong said.
“As we heard the IOC sports person say the other day, all you need now is a passport that says you’re a woman and if you come from a country that has relaxed sex self-identification laws then that doesn’t require much at all.”
On Friday, as part of a long statement addressing the controversy, the IOC said “the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport”.
However, Wong told Sky the rules needed to change.
“It’s incredibly problematic and I’m not sure what it’s going to take to get these rules changed because we have already seen women being injured in sports like boxing and other sports as well, so are we going to have to see a woman die before the rules are changed?
“Women are just going to have to start boycotting sports, but why should they have to sacrifice all the hard work they’ve put in? It should be the Olympic Committee and other sports that allow men to compete in female competition to tighten the rules and bring back fairness and safety for women and girls,” Wong said.
In series of posts on X, high-profile Sydney lawyer and media commentator Katherine Deves, the former federal Liberal candidate for Warringah, labelled the controversy “an utter betrayal of women” and accused the IOC of continuing “to defend males & ‘inclusivity’ at the expense of female athletes”.
Australian journalist and Olympic commentator Lucy Zelic also weighed in.
“Shame on everyone who allowed this to happen and finally, shame on those of you who have the audacity to defend why this should happen. This isn’t women’s sport, this is a disgrace,” she said on X.
Their comments form part of a global surge of outrage towards the IOC for permitting the fight, including from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls Reem Alsalem.
“Angela Carini rightly followed her instincts and prioritised her physical safety, but she and other female athletes should not have been exposed to this physical and psychological violence based on their sex,” she said.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling was also highly critical of the IOC.
“This isn’t sport. From the bullying cheat in red all the way up to the organisers who allowed this to happen, this is men revelling in their power over women,” she said on X.
The IOC responded to the controversy on Friday morning.
“Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination,” it said in a statement.
“All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with … all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU).
“As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport,” it said.
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