Ex-world champion Aussie Ebanie Bridges weighs in on Olympic gender storm

Ebanie Bridges has weighed in on the Olympic gender storm after the women at the centre of it both made their gold medal matches.

Ebanie Bridges has weighed in on the controversy. Photo: Getty Images and Instagram

Former Aussie boxing world champion Ebanie Bridges has taken aim after the boxers at the centre of the Paris Olympics gender storm both made their gold medal matches.

Algeria’s Imane Khelif will fight China’s Liu Yang for the gold medal in the women’s 66kg division, while Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting will fight Poland’s Julia Szeremeta for the women’s 57kg title.

Both women have won their matches to the Olympic final 5-0, except for Khelif’s first match which was famously abandoned against Italy’s Angela Carini after just 46 seconds.

The 25-year-old Khelif and Lin both fought at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago but there was no controversy at the time and neither won a medal.

But the controversy has erupted as both were disqualified from last year’s International Boxing Association-run world championships after reportedly failing gender eligibility tests, but were cleared to compete in Paris.

Boxing at these Games is run by the International Olympic Committee after it stripped the IBA over financial, governance and ethical concerns at the organisation.

Both Khelif and Lin have always competed in female events and lived as women their entire lives.

However, the news that both women had qualified for their respective gold medal matches saw Bridges weigh into the drama, tweeting: “XY for the win.”

The Aussie is known for her racy weigh in outfits. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Ebanie Bridges has weighed into the controversy. Photo: Instagram

Khelif and Lin were disqualified from last year’s world championships after IBA president Umar Kremlev said DNA tests had “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded”.

For males, XY is the combination of chromosomes while XX is the combination in females.

However, the IBA didn’t want to go into more detail about how these two athletes were suddenly disqualified — citing privacy reasons.

They did say the athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a “separate and recognised test” where they were found to have “competitive advantages” over other female competitors.

IBA officials also called a press conference in Paris with former chairman of the IBA’s medical committee Ioannis Filippatos claiming “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.”

Lin Yu-ting celebrates her semi-final win. Photo: MOHD RASFAN / AFP

Khelif dances after her semi-final win. Photo by Mauro PIMENTEL / AFP

Khelif was given the biggest roar of the night as she entered the arena at Roland Garros for her semi-final.

Cries of “Imane, Imane” rang out repeatedly before and during the bout. Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng, who had a clear height disadvantage, took a standing count in the third round after feeling the full power of the superior Algerian.

At the end of the fight at the 15,000-seat Court Philippe-Chatrier, which was close to capacity, the two fighters greeted each other warmly and shook hands.

“I am focusing on the competition and other things are not important. The important thing is that I am in the final now,” Khelif told BeIN Sports.

“I am very proud of this new achievement. I gave everything I had. We worked as a team for years and the dream has become a reality.

“I hope to focus and be up to the responsibility in the dream final.”

The beaten Thai moved to play down the furore.

“I had heard about the news regarding her, but I wasn’t following it closely,” she said. “She is a woman, but she is very strong.”

Lin’s fight ended with a protest from her Turkish opponent Esra Yildiz Kahraman, who made an X sign with her fingers to the crowd after the defeat.

Kahraman declined to say afterwards what it meant.

“The feeling of entering the gold medal match is one of gratitude to myself for making it this far,” said the 28-year-old Lin.

“After going out in the first round of the Tokyo Olympics, it’s been a tough journey to reach the finals.”