I received another email from USA Boxing concerning the women's boxing at the Paris Olympics. It contained a link to a joint statement from Paris 2024 Boxing Unit and the IOC, which follows:
We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.
These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.
According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA should “establish a clear procedure on gender testing”.
The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years.
Such an approach is contrary to good governance.
Eligibility rules should not be changed during ongoing competition, and any rule change must follow appropriate processes and should be based on scientific evidence.
The IOC is committed to protecting the human rights of all athletes participating in the Olympic Games as per the Olympic Charter, the IOC Code of Ethics and the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights. The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving.
The IBA’s recognition was withdrawn by the IOC in 2023 following its suspension in 2019. The withdrawal of recognition was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). See the IOC’s statement following the ruling.
The IOC has made it clear that it needs National Boxing Federations to reach a consensus around a new International Federation in order for boxing to be included on the sports programme of the Olympic Games LA28.
Pretty clear explanation of how they got into this mess. I remember getting information from USA Boxing about IBA and their suspension and eventual withdrawal of recognition. From what I remember it seemed there was a bit of a power struggle and maybe some politics involved. Even though these boxers have been involved in international competition previously, they shouldn't have been. There must be more to their gender story than what has been brought out since Olympic athletes are normally tested for performance enhancing drugs and blood doping. Looking at the last paragraph above, the IOC is going to make sure this issue gets settled before the 2028 Olympics, and I commend them for that.
However, Clint might have the right answer:
I doubt we'll ever see that included in the rulebooks, though.
2 comments:
From what I understand she has xy but has always had female parts. Not sure what the fair fight would be. Swyer syndrome is what it is called.
It seems to me this condition has given her an unfair advantage in the boxing ring but definitely not in life. If she registers as a female but her testosterone levels are too high, she should not be allowed to compete as a woman. It appears as if her testosterone levels have allowed for unnatural strength development that wouldn't be associated with normal female development.
My personal opinion is the presence of the XY chromosome, and the results of standard drug testing, should determine eligibility regardless of external genitalia. That might not be fair to the individuals wishing to compete, but in the interest of safety and fairness to the other competitors, seems like a decent solution. We'll have to wait and see what the IOC comes up with prior to the next Olympics. I discussed this with one of the other coaches at our gym and we both agreed we wouldn't allow one of our fighters to get in the ring with an opponent with excessively high testosterone levels.
Thanks for your input.
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