Of the 329 gold medals contested at Paris 2024, few have generated more interest than one which will be awarded today.
This evening, Imane Khelif will box to become Olympic female welterweight champion.
Of the millions who have an interest in the outcome of Algerian’s fight, some will be boxing fans, but most will not.
Her journey through the rounds, all the way to the final at Paris 2024 has been closely followed not because of her ability as a boxer but instead as a result of a bitter gender row that has erupted and has overshadowed the entire female boxing competition at this Olympic Games.
Khelif is fighting in the women’s category at Paris 2024, just as she has her entire career.
The question has arisen, however, if this is indeed the category in which she should be competing or whether she should, instead, be fighting in the male category.
For the vast majority of athletes, this question is never an issue.
But for Khelif, as has happened in a handful of cases, the category in which she should be competing is far less clear.
Within the boxing world, there has long questions over whether or not Khelif should be fighting in the male or female category, and this came to a head at last year’s World Boxing Championships, at which the Algerian, along with Yu Ting Lin of Chinese Taipei, were disqualified from competing in the women’s event by the sport’s governing body, the IBA, following DNA tests on both fighters that showed evidence of XY chromosomes – that is, a marker that each individual is male. Females, in contrast, have XX chromosomes.
However, the governing body of the Olympic movement, the IOC, which has long been known to favour inclusivity over fairness given the option, has differing eligibility criteria.
To be eligible to compete in the female category at the Olympic Games, the information on an individuals passport must state they are female. No further proof of gender is required.
Khelif’s passport states she is female, as does Lin’s.
Therefore, both were permitted to fight in the female category.
The furore, which has centred on Khelif far more than Lin, began as soon as the Algerian set foot in the ring for her opening bout of Paris 2024.
In round one, she faced Italian fighter, Angela Carini. The bout lasted only 46 seconds, with the Italian voluntarily pulling out, which is extremely unusual in top-level boxing.
In the aftermath of the fight, Carini said she’d “never felt a punch like this”.
From there, the torch paper was lit, with Khelif being accused of being a male fighting as a female, and the Algerian claimed she’d been on the receiving end of a barrage of abuse and threats .
Even now, a week on, it remains unclear as to whether or not Khelif is definitively male or female.
There have been reams of conflicting information about Khelif bouncing around but, to cut a long and extremely complicated story short, it seems that the Algerian was born with XY (male) chromosomes but based on the observed external genitalia, was assigned female at birth, hence why she’s a female on her passport.
She is not, as was claimed in the early days of the Olympic competition, a trans-woman, which would be a different conversation entirely.
So, given the information that’s been made public – and not enough for everyone to agree on exactly what Khelif’s situation is has been made public – Khelif was born with male chromosomes but her body "looks" female hence why she’s fighting in the female category.
There are so many issues with this case that make me uncomfortable.
The first, and this is before we even get to question of which category Khelif shoud be fighting in, is why is this being played out on the Olympic stage?
Many within boxing saw this controversy coming, so why on earth did the IOC not?
The IOC is, in so many ways, unfit for purpose, and this is yet another example of its failings.
Midway through the Olympic Games is not the time for a conversation about Khelif’s gender, and the gender eligibility rules, to take place.
The Olympic Games should be about sport and instead, the IOC has ensured much of the Paris 2024 boxing competition has been about gender.
Secondly, if Khelif is, indeed, biologically male then of course she should not be fighting women.
Khelif’s case has many similarities with that of middle-distance runner, Caster Semenya, who was at the centre of a comparable gender controversy.
The major difference is that if Semenya competes in the wrong gender category then all that happens – and I use the word “all” in the loosest possible terms as I’m well aware of what victory and defeat mean on the Olympic stage – is that her opponents lose a running race.
In contrast, if Khelif is, indeed, competing unfairly as a women, she could, potentially, seriously harm or even kill her opponent.
A man punching a woman in a boxing ring is an unspeakably dangerous scenario and so, if it’s ultimately proven that Khelif should be fighting in the male category, the IOC have a raft of questions to answer as to why they let her enter the ring against women in Paris.
This conversation will not end with the final bell of the gold medal bout tonight.
Whether Khelif departs Paris as Olympic champion or not, this gender controversy will remain a stain on Paris 2024, and one that has, in so many ways, been unfair to so many people.
Yet again, as happened with Semenya, this has become about one individual athlete and that, whichever side you’re on, is unacceptable.
Clear and understandable rules need to be decided upon so that never again is a controversy like this played out on the Olympic stage. At Paris 2024, whoever departs as Olympic welterweight champion, no one has won in this.
