IOC President Thomas Bach defended the participation of boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yuting in the Olympic tournament, condemned the aggression on social networks and sharply attacked the world association IBA. Amid the heated debate about the gender of the athletes from Algeria and Taiwan, Bach took a clear stance. “There was never any doubt that they were women,” he said.
Bach described the attacks, sometimes by people with a wide reach such as Harry Potter author JK Rowling or Elon Musk, as “partly politically motivated culture war”in which the International Olympic Committee will not participate. “Hate speech, aggression and insults on social media are completely unacceptable,” said Bach.
Khelif and Lin were disqualified from the World Championships last year by the IBA because they did not meet the “conditions for participation”. The decision was based on an unspecified gender test. Due to various scandals, the IOC no longer recognizes the IBA and organizes the boxing tournament in Paris itself. Therefore, Khelif and Lin are allowed to compete.
“Every woman who is a woman according to the rules must be admitted“We have our rules to define who is a woman and to guarantee fairness. This needs a scientific basis,” said Bach. “That is the only way to come to a correct decision, and not by organizing a survey on social media.”
The International Boxing Association, led by Russian Umar Kremlev, which was suspended by the IOC in 2019 and finally excluded in 2023, took aim at Bach. “The Russian side” and the IBA had already started a “defamation campaign” against France, the Olympics and the IOC before the Games, with comments “that I do not want to repeat”. (sid)
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