Two Olympic boxers have been the targets of unfounded personal attacks from the right, casting a dark shadow over a sporting event meant to foster peace and tolerance through athletic competition. Despite qualifying to participate in the boxing tournament at the Paris Olympic Games, Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan have been attacked on social media by people who, based on the boxers’ physical appearance, claim that they are men or transgender women, and ineligible to compete in the women’s category. The Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have repeatedly come to Khelif and Yu-ting’s defense , confirming that the women comply with the competition’s eligibility, entry, and medical regulations .
“There was never any doubt about them being [women],” IOC President Thomas Bach said at a news conference on Aug. 3. “This is not a transgender case: This is about a woman taking part in a women’s competition.
” But that hasn’t stopped conservatives in the United States and Europe from decrying Khelif and Yu-ting’s participation in the Olympic boxing tournament, claiming that they have an unfair advantage over the other women competing in the event. As it turns out, this baseless outrage is the result not only of transphobic and misogynist bigotry, but a long history of discriminatory “sex verification” at the Olympics . On Aug.
1, Khelif won her first bout in the Paris Olympics when her opponent, Angela Ca.