welterweight boxing
Gender issues in sport … again!
Yep, it’s back on the agenda.
Remember Caster Semenya‘s involvement at the Rio Olympic games way back in 2016? I wrote a piece for this blog about the ethical dimensions that rumbled on for ages. 
Now here we are years later with another case involving sex chromosomes and justice in sport.
But let me just say this: there’s so much good about the big international sporting events bringing people together from around the world in a healthily competitive arena. Clear rules of engagement, close scrutiny of performance, awesome talent on display, national pride, the best taking on the best … So let’s not lose sight of the big picture by homing in on a single disturbing case.
Because the vast majority of athletes at the top of their game are competing on merit, when there’s a clear violation of the standards of fairness and equality expected and taken for granted in high level sport we are justifiably outraged. The authorities organising the event are challenged. Sometimes individuals are excluded or medals removed. Sometimes not.
This past week in the Paris Olympics in the women’s welterweight boxing, Italy’s Angela Carini was forced to abandon a fight after only 46 seconds because she feared for her life. Opposite her in the ring was an Algerian boxer, Imane Khelif, who has failed sex tests in the past, and who was removed as recently as last year from the World Championships after failing a testosterone test. The power behind Khelif’s punches was such that Carini’s physical safety could not be assured.
In this case the president of the International Olympic Committee appears to be confused as to the real issues of biology here, but there are plenty of people spelling out the facts of the case. This is not a matter of a transgender competitor; rather of differences in sex development and tests demonstrating that two competitors in female boxing (the other one is Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting) have XY chromosomes – which denote maleness. Simply being raised as a girl and having a passport identifying them as female, is not – or surely should not be – enough to qualify someone to enter into one of the most dangerous arenas at the highest level as a female. One article reported in Science Daily in 2020 documented that on average men punch 162% times harder than women. It figures.
But hey, I’m not on the inside of this story. What do I know? Only what’s reported in the media. Whose story is the correct one? I can only deal with what I’m reading and hearing, and form my opinion based on that. So feel free to correct me if you know more.
As I see it, the IOC has attempted to ‘dial down’ scrutiny of the match, TV coverage was minimised; nevertheless debate on the subject has gone viral with the inevitable distortions and sensationalisation that brings. Celebrities as well as sports commentators have joined in the furore over the injustice of this incident. Widespread vitriol, hate and calls for justice have followed. My own observations tell me this was an unfair fight.
But through it all Khelif insists: I am a woman. Her father says she’s a woman. Her country says she’s a woman. She believes she has every right to fight for a medal for her country. Some reports state that she was born with Swyer syndrome which is a form of intersex. That’s as may be, but in other circumstances I would not condone a person with XY chromosomes smashing into a person with XX chromosomes in order to subdue and crush them: my instinct is to apply the same rules in sport.
But whose rights take precedence here? What do you think?
The self-appointed righteous judges of this world have a long history of casting stones at those who are ‘different’ even where this is through no fault of their own. So, If Khelif is simply following a dream after a lifetime struggling with the tricks nature has played on her, I hope she can find some fair and fulfilling way to achieve her goals.