Algerian boxer Imane Khelif's victory over her Italian opponent at the Paris 2024 Olympics last week brought the issue of gender conformity among Olympic athletes into the spotlight, sparking considerable controversy regarding Olympic boxers whose gender identity is disputed. Amid this, numerous voices from the boxing world have argued that Khelif, who will fight for an Olympic gold medal on Friday, should not have been allowed to compete in the women's category. This is because a testosterone test she did last year, ahead of the World Championships, showed elevated levels, which disqualified her from that competition.
5 View gallery Imane Khelif ( Photo: AP/John Locher ) International Boxing Association (IBA) President Umar Kremlev claimed that, after a series of DNA tests, the association "uncovered athletes who tried to deceive their peers by posing as women." According to him, the tests "proved they had XY chromosomes, and thus were excluded from sporting events." Conversely, the Algerian Olympic Committee condemned the attacks on their boxer, asserting she meets all the criteria for Olympic participation as a woman.
While Olympic committees and international organizations are required to reevaluate protocols concerning equality and creating the fairest competition possible, Professor Lina Basel Salmon, director of the Genetics Institute at Rabin Medical Center, explained the phenomenon's scientific details. "By the sixth week of a pregnancy, an embryo begins to develop i.