The abrupt withdrawal of Italy's Angela Carini from her Paris Olympics bout against Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has raised several questions regarding gender eligibility and the role of governing bodies in sport. (Full Olympics Coverage | More Sports News)
It took all of 46 seconds for Carini to say "enough", in her women’s 66kg round of 16 clash against Khelif. The Algerian is one of two boxers permitted to compete at the Olympics despite being disqualified from the the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi for failing testosterone and gender eligibility tests.
Carini left the North Paris Arena in tears after being hit by a punch, that she felt was harder than any that had hit her before. “I am heartbroken. I went to the ring to honour my father. I was told a lot of times that I was a warrior but I preferred to stop for my health. I have never felt a punch like this,” the Guardian quoted her as saying afterwards.
The incident has become a major talking point at Paris 2024, and opens a can of worms. Why are the rules different for the International Boxing Association (IBA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC)? Where does one draw the line regarding gender eligibility? And where does transgenderism figure in this debate?
These are some of the questions doing the rounds, ever since Carini's withdrawal. The incident itself has evoked strong reactions from prominent figures - men, women and others - all over the world.
Take the statement of Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, for instance. “I think that athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women’s competitions. And not because you want to discriminate against someone, but to protect the right of female athletes to be able to compete on equal terms.
“I was emotional yesterday when she wrote ‘I will fight’ because the dedication, the head, the character, surely also play a role in these things. But then it also matters to be able to compete on equal grounds and from my point of view it was not an even contest,” Meloni said.
In addition to Khelif, Lin Yu‑ting of Chinese Taipei has also been allowed to compete in the women’s category, despite being stripped of a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships in Delhi.
Variance In IOC And IBA Rules
The IOC, on its part, said all boxers in Paris "comply with the competition's eligibility and entry regulations". IOC spokesman Mark Adams had said earlier: "These athletes have competed many times before for many years, they haven't just suddenly arrived - they competed in Tokyo."
The IBA, on the other hand, had a diametrically opposite stance last year when they disallowed the two boxers at the Worlds. IBA president Umar Kremlev had then said: “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.” XY is the male chromosome, while XX is the female one.
Now, amid the controversy, IBA has flayed the IOC for their 'lenient' rules for the Paris Olympics. “The IOC’s differing regulations on these matters, in which IBA is not involved, raise serious questions about both competitive fairness and athletes’ safety," it said.
Difference Between Transgenderism And Hyperandrogenism
Meanwhile, the debate regarding transgender participation in sports rages on. Many sports luminaries have likened it to doping, opining strongly on the undue advantage it purportedly offers to biological men who identify as women.
But a distinction needs to be made between trans people competing in sports, and biological women who are found to have higher levels of testosterone. Many high-profile athletes are afflicted with the latter, including South Africa's two-time Olympic gold medallist runner Caster Semenya, and India's very own Dutee Chand.
In 2014, Chand was effectively banned from competing as a female because of the high testosterone levels in her body, a clinical condition known as ‘hyperandrogenism’.
Dutee, then 18 years old, had appealed the verdict at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and won a landmark case, which set a precedent for other athletes facing such bans.
