IOC 'saddened by abuse' of 2 boxers over gender

PARIS — The International Olympic Committee on Thursday defended its decision to allow two female boxers to compete at the Paris Olympics despite an ongoing gender controversy, saying the pair were facing “aggression” because of an arbitrary decision.

Algeria’s Imane Khelif, who won her round of 16 welterweight bout over Italy’s Angela Carini in 46 seconds, and Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting, who is fighting on Friday, have been cleared to compete in the Olympics.

Khelif’s lightning-quick win over Carini, who decided to pull out after a barrage of punches, piled more pressure on the IOC for allowing Khelif and Lin to box in Paris.

“The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving,” the IOC said in a statement Thursday. “Every person has the right to practice sport without discrimination.”

Khelif and Lin were disqualified by the International Boxing Association at the 2023 world championships after failing an unspecified gender eligibility test.

The IBA was stripped of its recognition by the IOC last year over governance and finance issues, and the Olympic body is now running the boxing competition in Paris.

The IOC said the IBA decision to disqualify the boxers last year was arbitrary and the main cause for the furor that has seen people such as British author J. K. Rowling and billionaire Elon Musk voice their opposition to them competing in the Games.

“These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA,” the IOC said in its statement. “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 issued a statement Wednesday in which it said both boxers did not have a “testosterone examination” last year but were “subject to a separate and recognized test” for their disqualification. The IBA said the test’s “specifics remain confidential” and refused to explain it.

In a second statement Thursday, the IBA condemned “inconsistencies in eligibility” at the Games.

“Both Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting post testing, did not meet the required eligibility criteria to compete within the female category of our respective events,” the body added.

“The urgent nature of the decision (to disqualify the boxers) was justified, as the safety of our boxers is our top priority.”

The IOC said the rules of eligibility this year were based on those of the Tokyo Games in 2021 and cannot be changed during a competition.

“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,” the IOC said.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.