For Paris Olympics organizers, female designation in passport key for boxers after world champs DQshttps://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/for-paris-olympics-organizers-female-designation-in-passport-key-for-boxers-after-world-champs-dqs/ar-BB1qTOTU?ocid=windirect&cvid=c7a62bff46344221b4125b7575721946&ei=20Story by GRAHAM DUNBAR (30 July 2024)
PARIS (AP) — Female in their passports, female at the Paris Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday defended the right of two athletes to compete in women's boxing despite being judged last year to have failed gender eligibility tests at the world championships.
Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, who is a two-time world champion, and Imane Khelif of Algeria are both competing at their second Olympics.
"Everyone competing in the women's category is complying with the competition eligibility rules," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Tuesday at the daily news conference by organizers of the Paris Olympics.
"They are women in their passports and it's stated that this is the case, that they are female," Adams said.
At the 2023 worlds in New Delhi, both were due to get medals until being disqualified by the International Boxing Association. The IBA has no part in running Olympic boxing in fallout from a years-long dispute with the IOC.
"They are eligible by the rules of the federation which was set in 2016, and which worked for Tokyo too," Adams said. "To compete as women, which is what they are. And we fully support that."
