Two boxers who were previously disqualified for failing to meet eligibility requirements to compete in women’s matches last year will compete in the Paris Olympics.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting will compete for a medal in the women’s 66-kilogram and women’s 57-kilogram matches. However, both competitors faced controversy in 2023.
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Imane Khelif celebrates after defeating Mariem Homrani Ep Zayan during the Tokyo Olympic Games on July 30, 2021. (Buda Mendes/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Khelif and Lin were disqualified during the women’s world championships in New Delhi in March 2023. The International Boxing Association said both fighters failed to meet eligibility criteria.
Khelif was disqualified after a test found a high level of testosterone, Reuters reported, citing Algerian media. The boxer told Algerian TV that the decision was a part of a “big conspiracy.”
According to AFP, Khelif was told she had “characteristics that mean I can’t box with women.”
The Algerian Olympic Committee said at the time Khelif was disqualified for medical reasons.
Yu-Ting Lin, right, competes against Jucielen Romeu during the Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 16, 2022. (Mehmet Eser/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Lin’s bronze medal was stripped after failing to meet IBA eligibility criteria, which caused an uproar in her camp.
IBA president Umar Kremlin explained the decision at the time, 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,” Kremlin said.
Reduxx first noted the matchups.
The International Olympic Committee cut ties with the International Boxing Association in 2023 over concerns about its reliance on Russia’s Gazprom.
A laser show is projected from the Eiffel Tower in Paris during the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, Pool)
World Boxing formed in 2023 out of the dispute.
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Khelif will fight Italy’s Angela Carini in the round of 16. Lin will face the winner of a fight between Marcelat Sakobi Matshu and Sitora Turdibekova.
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