Imane Khelif was scheduled to appear at the Oxford Union the week, however due to unforeseen circumstances she cancelled. Whilst seemingly a trivial issue, her cancellation has brought her back to the attention of the right-wing British press, who are still treating her participation in the 2024 Olympics sceptically. Once again, the attacks on her fail to see how complex sex testing is, especially within top level sports. How we can approach this going forward, without leading to further online abuse and cyber bullying lawsuits?

 

 

Khelif has a truly inspirational backstory. She went from selling scrap metal to afford training to winning a gold medal in the Paris Olympics. She is UNICEF Algeria’s national ambassador. What should have been one of the Paris Olympics’ greatest success stories became one of its biggest controversies and, for Khelif, a nightmare.

 

 

Khelif gave a moving interview to UNICEF where she spoke of her childhood in Ain Mesbah, a small, conservative village 300 km from Algiers. She was a capable athlete and grew up playing football, later taking up boxing. Khelif and her mother sold scrap metal and couscous to pay for her bus ticket to the nearest city so that she could train. Her village and her father didn’t approve, but he eventually relented and has supported her through thick and thin, coming to her defence during the cyber bullying attacks she faced. Before Paris, she filmed a video where she has said her ‘dream is to win a gold medal’ and be a role model for young girls in sport. Her career reached new heights during the Tokyo Olympic games in 2021, where she won fifth place in the lightweight category. In 2023 she made it to the semi-finals of the Women’s International Boxing Association (IBA) Championships. However, what should have been a momentous career achievement ended up being a source of endless questioning.

 

 

The root of the controversy is that Khelif, and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu- ting, were previously disqualified at the eleventh hour from the IBA Championships in 2023 for not meeting gender eligibility requirements following undisclosed gender testing. This snap decision meant Khelif was unable to compete in her welterweight gold medal match and Yu-ting was stripped of her featherweight bronze medal. The IBA have issued contradictory statements about the details of the tests. Its President, Umar Kremlev, said in a press conference during the Paris Olympics that both boxers had shown high levels of testosterone and that (typically male) XY chromosomes had been found. An IBA doctor, Ionnais Filippatos, issued a contradictory statement in which he said that testosterone had not been tested for. This raises further questions as to the validity of the tests, alongside the rapid disqualification, without due process, of both women.

 

 

To further complicate matters, relations between the IBA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have soured following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The IOC accused the IBA of being compromised by close ties to the Russian leadership, with the Russian state energy company being an IBA sponsor. Because of this, the IBA were not involved in Olympic selection for the Paris Olympics. Both Khelif and Yu-ting qualified for entry in compliance with the rules about boxer eligibility outlined by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit. There is no rule on sex testing.

 

 

Both women have had their bodies scrutinised by media, politicians, athletes, social media influencers, and even the charity ‘Fair Play For Women’. Leading political figures like, UK Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, and Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni described one of Khelif’s fights as ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘unequal’ respectively. Other public figures including Elon Musk, J. K. Rowling, and right wing media organisations like the Telegraph and the Daily Mail, have accused Khelif and Yu- ting of being ‘male’. These persistent accusations prompted IOC President Thomas Bach to issue a statement that both athletes were born women, held female passports, and thus they could compete in the women’s categories. However, this seemed only to intensify the hate, with many claiming that the IOC had failed to protect women. Kremlev said at his press conference during the Olympics that ‘we are witnessing the death of female boxing’.

 

 

Whilst Khelif and Yu-ting failed undisclosed gender tests in 2023 during the IBA Championships, the situation is more complicated than critics make it out to be. Even if we accept the tests as valid, the presence of testosterone or the XY chromosome, doesn’t inherently suggest that someone is biological male. Alun Williams, a professor of sports and exercise genomics, argues that ‘just looking at the presence of a Y chromosome on its own does not answer the question of whether someone is male or female’. Differences in biological and genetic features could be a sign of differences in sex development (DSD). In the LGBTQIA abbreviation this falls under ‘intersex’, which is arguably the most misunderstood term. I would like to make it very clear that I am not labelling Khelif or Yu-ting as intersex, but merely saying that if we take the tests at face value, intersex characteristics highlight the nuances around regulating top level sports and how biological sex is a highly complex phenomenon. Intersex characteristics are one of several causes for unexpected sex testing results. Williams points out how some types of DSD can give athletes an advantage, but there is no direct evidence that DSD female athletes have the same advantage as typical males. Only comprehensive sex testing involving examination of genetics, hormones, and the body’s response to certain hormones (like testosterone) can determine if an athlete has a biological advantage. Even when there is a presence of the XY chromosome and testosterone some people may be completely insensitive to them. This is highlighted by several cases in athletics, a sport that has an almost 90-year history of sex testing. In the 1980s the governing athletics body, International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), banned Spanish hurdles athlete María José Martínez- Patiño from competing in 1985 after a sex test revealed she had an XY chromosome. However, she was re-instated as a competitor 3 years later after proving she had androgen insensitivity, meaning her body didn’t respond to testosterone. Unlike the IAAF, the IBA still have no policy on intersex athletes.

 

 

The situation around sex testing and athletes is extremely complicated: the more research I did the angrier I became at those who did not even try to understand the nuance. So many people were accusing both boxers of being male without, I felt, truly understanding the situation. The case is very emotionally charged due to the physical and violent nature of boxing. Would the outrage have been as great is Khelif was a swimmer or a sprinter who could quite literally stay in her own lane? Critics of Khelif have argued that her fights represent male on female domestic abuse, however this statement fails to understand the nuances of human biology.

 

 

Human biology is incredibly complicated, in elite level sports this becomes difficult to regulate. Critics of Khelif and Yu-ting have accused them of several things, not least having a physical advantage over their opponents, yet sports is inherently unfair and highly dependent on genetic factors (and I’m not just saying this as someone who is bad at sports). For example, Michael Phelps, widely held to be the greatest swimmer of all time, benefits from having the perfect body for swimming: he has an incredibly large wingspan and is double jointed. These factors, alongside intensive training and mental fortitude, contributed to making him the most decorated Olympic athlete in history. This highlights how top-level sports never were, and never will be, an equal playing field. Frequently DSD or trans athletes are scapegoated for contributing to this perceived unfairness due to their different biological sex and chromosome characteristics. This argument has been used to contend the inclusion of trans or DSD athletes in elite level sport, with some claiming this is undermining women’s sports. Whilst most women’s sports are marginalised compared to men’s. It goes without saying that most male athletes, because of their biology, are physically stronger than most female athletes, however every case with transgender or DSD athletes is so personal and unique. I personally believe that eligibility should be assessed on a case-by-case basis. This is because bodies respond to different hormone suppressants and other pharmaceuticals differently and athletes may be in different stages of transitioning. Professional sports also require different skills: diving is completely different to boxing; therefore, the sport’s governing bodies and doctors should assess individual cases of DSD or transgender athletes. These athletes also form a tiny but important minority that must no longer be overlooked or mistreated, as several have been by the IAAF. I believe this system of scientifically supported individual assessment is the best and fairest solution for the Olympics and international sports associations in the future.

 

 

Imane Khelif represents everything the Olympics should be about. She is a successful athlete who has triumphed in the face of great adversity. However, her case raises several difficult questions about the nuances of sex testing within sports, with several criticising the participation and victories of Khelif and Lin Yu-ting. Yet, Khelif has triumphed in the face of this, becoming a UNICEF ambassador and being featured in Vogue magazine. Khelif is a boxer, but she was born a fighter. ∎

 

 

Words by Mikela Persson-Caracciolo. Image Courtesy of Free Malaysia Today.