Two athletes previously disqualified from the 2023 World Championships have been cleared to compete in women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics. Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting and Algeria’s Imane Khelif, who faced disqualification for failing eligibility criteria, will now participate.
Previous disqualifications
Lin Yu-ting, 28, was stripped of her bronze medal after failing a gender eligibility test. Imane Khelif, 25, was disqualified due to failing a testosterone level test. The International Boxing Association, no longer recognized by the IOC, organized the event. The specifics of the gender tests remain undisclosed.
IOC statement and regulations
The IOC confirmed, “All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations in accordance with rules 1.4 and 3.1 of the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit,” the IOC said in a statement.
“The PBU [Paris Boxing Unit] endeavored to restrict amendments to minimize the impact on athletes’ preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games.”
Both athletes competed in the delayed Tokyo 2021 Olympics. Lin is a two-time winner at the Asian Women’s Amateur Boxing Championships. IOC spokesman Mark Adams emphasized the importance of fairness and inclusivity, noting the complexity of maintaining balance in sports regulations.
On Tuesday IOC spokesman Mark Adams said: “These athletes have competed many times before for many years, they haven’t just suddenly arrived – they competed in Tokyo.
“The federation needs to make the rules to make sure that there is fairness, but at the same time, there is the ability for everyone to take part that wants to. That is a difficult balance.
“In the end the experts for each sport are the people who work in that. If there is a big advantage that clearly is not acceptable, but that needs to be a decision made at that level.”
Welterweight Khelif faces Italy’s Angela Carini on Thursday, and featherweight Lin takes on either Marcelat Sakobi or Sitora Turdibekova on Friday.