Boxing officials roll into Paris and boldly declare two fighters ‘are male’

“The medical result, blood result, looks - and the laboratory - says that these boxers are male,” the IBA said, at a chaotic press conference in Paris.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) claimed Monday at a chaotic press conference that tests on two boxers at the centre of a gender controversy at the Paris Olympics show they “are male”.

The IBA said previously that it disqualified Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting from its 2023 world championships after the fighters failed gender eligibility tests, without specifying what the tests were.

The boxing in the French capital is run by the International Olympic Committee because of financial, governance and ethical concerns at the IBA.

The IOC cleared the two boxers to fight with Khelif ultimately claiming the gold medal in the 66kg category.

Lin Yu-ting will also fight for a gold medal in the 57kg category after winning her semi-final on Thursday morning (AEST).

The IBA says its test show Imane Khelif and Lin Yu Ting "are male". Pictures: Getty

The IOC and IBA have been in open dispute throughout the Games with an IBA press conference in Paris was designed to clarify what tests Khelif and Lin underwent last year, and what the results showed.

IBA officials including Kremlin-linked Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, the organisation’s president, who was on a remote video call, gave a series of contradictory statements to a room packed full of reporters.

The officials said they were also constrained by medical confidentiality.

What was clear was when Ioannis Filippatos, former chairman of the IBA’s medical committee, said “abnormalities” were detected in blood tests in 2022.

The two boxers were tested again in 2023 to confirm the initial findings, IBA officials said, and after that they were disqualified.

“The medical result, blood result, looks - and the laboratory says - that these boxers are male,” said Filippatos.

“The problem is that we have two blood exams with karyotype of male. This is the answer from the laboratory.”

Ioannis Filippatos addresses the room in Paris.

A karyotype is an individual’s complete set of chromosomes, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute in the United States.

It can also be a laboratory-produced image used to look for abnormalities in chromosome number or structure.

The Algerian Olympic and Sports Committee quickly hit back, saying: “Algeria is not a member of the IBA.

“We do not recognise the IBA as a legitimate institution, and it has no connection with the Olympic Games.

“Our champion, Imane Khelif, remains untouched and undeterred by the baseless claims of the IBA.”

Khelif spoke to the media for the first time following her semi-final win and delivered a defiant message as the controversy surrounding her swirled.

“I don’t care about the criticism. I am here for the competition,” she said.

“God willing, we will be at the final level and I will present my talent. Because I consider myself talented and I really am talented. I will do my best to provide you with an enjoyable viewing around the world. Thank you.”

IOC president Thomas Bach and high-level officials from Algeria and Taiwan have strenuously defended Khelif and Lin, saying they were born and raised as women, and have passports saying that.

The Olympic body, which has effectively expelled the IBA from the Olympic movement, has accused the IBA of making “an arbitrary decision” over disqualifying the duo in 2023.

Khelif and Lin also fought at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but did not win a medal and competed without controversy.

- AFP