Many people are watching the Olympics and it is not unusual for emotions to get involved. Sometimes, the emotions may not be involved as a result of the sport itself.
In the 2024 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee confirmed that two boxers were not able to compete in the world championships last year because they did not pass a gender eligibility test. Those two boxers, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting and Algeria’s Imane Khelif will be able to fight in the Olympics.
They will not be fighting each other but rather, they will be facing other boxers. Both of the competitors had “XY chromosomes’ and were excluded from the sports event of last year’s world championship. The International Olympic Committee, however, has decided to ignore their ruling and come up with a controversial decision on their own.
One individual who is upset with this is JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. She went on Twitter to give a piece of her mind to the 2024 Paris organizers.
She said: “What will it take to end this insanity? A female boxer left with life-altering injuries? A female boxer killed?”
Even though both of the boxers failed gender tests months ago, the Olympic Committee said that “The PBU used the Tokyo 2020 boxing rules (enforced at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the related qualifying tournaments) as a baseline to develop its regulations. Those rules descended from the Rio 2016 rules.
“The PBU endeavoured to restrict amendments to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games.”
As a result of failing a gender eligibility test, Lin Yu-ting was not able to keep a bronze medal won in March 2023. At the same time, Imane Khelif failed a testosterone level test and was disqualified in New Delhi.
It is not only the Harry Potter author who is upset with this situation, there are many others, including big names in boxing that are critical of it.
It will be interesting to see where this one goes.
