Became A typical example is the participation of Algerian transgender athlete Imane Khelif at the boxing tournament Paris Olympic Games. On the eve of the match boxing against the Italian Angela Carinischeduled for Thursday at the Paris 2024 Olympics, the debate is heating up.
The African athlete is in the spotlight for its status: was excluded from the last World Cup for the high testosterone levels and – in accordance with the lawInternational Boxing Association who organized the world championship – for the presence of biological male sex chromosomes in the DNA test. At the Paris Games, Instead, the IOC – who does not recognize theIba as a legitimate body – announced that the Algerian athlete is allowed participate because it meets all the requirements.
Another trans boxer will also make his featherweight debut on Friday, Taiwanese people Li Yuting against Uzbekistan's Turdibekova. Neither Khelif in the under 66 kg category nor Li-Yuting had passed the “gender test” at the World Boxing Championships, but The IOC admitted bothas already happened at the Tokyo Games in 2021. Lin had won bronze at the world championships in 2023 but was later disqualified, while Khelif was arrested at the world championships in New Delhi for high testosterone levels: in both cases because XY chromosomes had emerged in the DNA, hence the disqualification to “ensure the integrity and fairness of the competition”.
The position of the Minister of Sports
Her presence in the women's tournament does not convince everyone. “Coni has taken measures with the International Olympic Committee to ensure that the rights of all athletes, men and women, are in line with the Olympic Charter and health regulations,” can be read on the Coni website.
In the meantime, he also expresses his opinion on the subject Sports Minister Andrea Abodi. “I find it difficult to understand that there is no alignment in the parameters of minimum hormonal values at the international level, which therefore includes the European Championships, the World Championships and the Olympic Games. In the event that represents the highest values in sport, the safety of male and female athletes must be guaranteed. , And respect for fair competition from a competitive point of view. “Tomorrow it will not be like this for Angela Carini,” says the minister.
The issue of transgender or hyperandrogenic athletes is very slippery: on the one hand, the rights of those who ask to express their gender identity in sport, on the other, the protection of the regularity of competitions and safety, particularly in a contact sport.
For Sports Minister Abodi, “that of transgender athletes is a theme that must be brought back into the category of respect in all its forms”, but by distinguishing “the practice of sport from competition which must allow us to compete on equal terms, in complete safety.” “It is quite clear that the dimension of gender identity in the competitive field raises the problem of equality of opportunity or the same opportunities; it is no coincidence that many sports disciplines have imposed on transgender athletes the necessary restrictions to allow them to compete under the same conditions. “In this case, we are witnessing an interpretation of the concept of inclusiveness that does not take into account the primary and indispensable factors,” the minister added.
Health Minister Schillaci also commented on the matter: “I hope that tomorrow's boxing match between our Angela Carini and Algerian athlete Imane Khelif will guarantee the integrity and fairness of the competition. It is indeed important to consider the different levels of strength that will compete in the ring to protect the safety and health of our athlete,” said the minister.
A combo of Italian athlete Angela Carini (S) who will have to fight a boxing match against Algerian trans Imane Khelif (R) (HANDLE)
For her part, Angela Carini, who will face Algerian Imane Khelif tomorrow at 12:20 p.m. in a match in the 66 kg category, responds to the controversy with serenity and rigor: “I have to adapt to what the IOC has decided, so tomorrow I will go to the ring and I will give everything“, the words of the 25-year-old Neapolitan.
Concern is filtering through the entourage of the national boxing team about what could happen, while FPI president Flavio D'Ambrosi prefers to rely “on institutional silence”.
Gaynet's accuracy
“The Algerian athlete Imane Khelif, who will face the Italian athlete Angela Carini tomorrow, is not a trans woman, contrary to the information that has been circulating since yesterday. According to the information we have about her, she is an intersex person“, who has always been socialized as a woman and who has a sporting career in women's competitions,” says Rosario Coco, president of Gaynet. “It is not clear – the reconstructions are contradictory – whether Khelif and Li-Yuting, another intersex athlete of the same situation, should be chromosomal or hormonal. In any case, it would be a case of variation of sexual characteristics, a general definition that also includes intersexuality. What we know for sure is that we are facing two athletes with a single career. “Women's sport behind her. In the case of Khelif, however, it must be remembered that Algeria also prohibits the change of sex on documents,” adds Coco.
The previous
The case is very similar to that of Caster Semenyawho after being excluded from World Athletics won his case at the Student in 2023 after years, but he was not allowed to compete, thus seeing his career completely compromised.
Caster Semenya (handle)
32-year-old South African, double Olympic champion in the 800 meters, won an important battle for rights. The athlete had been banned from some sports competitions for refusing to take medication that reduced her high testosterone levels, caused by a genetic dysfunction that causes hyperandrogyny. That's why Semenya turned to the European court of human rights in February 2021 by filing a lawsuit against the Swiss Supreme Court.
“Those who comment on the news at such times often do not know the rules of sport and act as censors of gender categories without knowing the guidelines of the International Olympic Committee on gender identity and changes in sex characteristics in 2021, which allow eligibility criteria for trans and intersex athletes, (as in the case of Khelif), only in light of proven scientific evidence. In short, it is not up to politics to say whether tomorrow's race is safe or not, given that experts, athletes and sports organizations have been working on these issues for years,” adds the president of Gaynet.
