Former swimmer accuses IOC of neglect for allowing Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting to fight in Paris and demands sex tests for all competitors
Sharron Davies raised fears of a woman Olympian being killed as she joined fairness for sport campaigners in demanding sex tests for all competitors.
The former silver-medallist swimmer said the “insane” gender row engulfing boxing at these Games amounts to “genuine neglect” by the IOC.
She and other figures leading the charge laid bare risks facing future Games as Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting close in on gold medals.
Research also shows biological males punch around “162 per cent” harder than females, experts added.
Davies and Fiona McAnena, of the group Sex Matters, appealed for sport not to get sidetracked by doubts over the credibility of the International Boxing Association, which carried out gender eligibility tests on Khelif and Lin in 2022 and 2023.
“In boxing, it is insane to put a male in a ring with a female and for the IOC to say the only thing that’s important to them is what is on a passport is genuine neglect,” Davies told a press conference on Thursday. “The duty of care has been thrown out the window, and my head wants to explode… We’re literally on the cusp of a female athlete potentially being killed if we’re not careful. It really is that bad.”
The IOC has repeatedly opposed the prospect of mandatory sex tests at these Games as it warned against “stigmatising” Khelif and Lin.
Lin Yu-ting connects with a right against Esra Yildiz Kahraman in their semi-final Credit: Getty Images/Fabio Bozzani
Linda Blade, co-founder of the International Consortium on Female Sport, and McAnena of Sex Matters, pointed out, however, that the furore around the pair was “entirely avoidable”.
“Boxing is the sport with the greatest disparity between males and female – with males punching 162 per cent harder than females,” Blade said. “The potential harm to females that could result from the pummelling delivered by an unverified participant who is male is catastrophic.”
They were speaking out ahead of Olympic women’s boxing finals on Friday and Saturday that have Khelif and Lin as firm favourites for golds.
Opponents have repeatedly protested, with Lin facing “XX” gender gestures in the ring in her last two bouts.
Reflecting on the saga which has tarnished the Games, McAnena added: “This failure can be laid at the door of the IOC, and the IOC could solve it too. It’s the IOC that set up the Paris boxing unit, and the IOC that is claiming there is no scientific consensus on how to determine who is a woman.
“The same IOC insists these two boxers are women. By refusing to allow or recognise sex screening, it is the IOC that has invited public scrutiny of Khelif and Lin.”
The campaigners claim the IOC is “wrong when it says no one wants to return to sex testing”. Surveys have shown consistently that the vast majority of female athletes want sex screening. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, 82 per cent of those surveyed were in favour, they point out.
“There is no confusion in this,” said Davies. “It’s very straightforward. Biological females should be protected to have their own classification of sport. That’s 51 per cent of this world’s population… And at the moment, they’ve been told they just don’t matter, and it’s heartbreaking.”
The IOC has rejected such criticism, insisting Khelif and Lin are women, despite their disqualifications from IBA events last year.
