What's a woman?

[niemeyjt]

(note, this is in the Sports section)

It seems the IOC has a different idea of a "woman" to the International Boxing Association - resulting in an Italian boxer narrowly avoiding a serious injury.

Giorgia Meloni decries Imane Khelif's Olympic boxing victory

Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, says the Olympic boxing bout between Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Italy’s Angela Carini was “not an even contest”.

The bout was hugely controversial because Khelif has previously been thrown out of women’s boxing competitions owing to her male XY chromosomes. She was permitted to fight at the Olympics, however, because the International Olympic Committee, which governs Olympic sports, does not follow the same rules as the International Boxing Association.

When Khelif met Carini in their first-round welterweight contest on Thursday morning the fight lasted just 46 seconds before Carini withdrew with a suspected broken nose. The fight has heightened the controversy about athletes with abnormally high testosterone levels or other male characteristics being allowed to compete in women’s sporting categories.

Speaking after the bout, Meloni said: “I have been trying to explain for years that, when taken to the extreme, some theses risk impacting women’s rights.

“I think that athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women’s competitions. Not because we want to discriminate against anyone, but in order to protect the right of female athletes to be able to compete on equal terms”

The Italian PM added: “I regret it [Carini’s withdrawal] even more. I was emotional yesterday when she wrote ‘I will fight’ because the dedication, the head, the character, surely also play a role in these things.

“But then it also matters to be able to compete on equal grounds and, from my point of view, it was not an even contest.”
Carini: ‘One punch hurt too much’

Carini said that she abandoned the bout because she could tell after one punch that she was outpowered.

“I got into the ring to fight,” said the 25-year-old from Naples. “I didn’t give up, but one punch hurt too much and so I said, ‘Enough, I’m going out with my head held high.’”

Her coach, Emanuele Renzini, stressed that quitting the bout was not planned in advance. “It would have been easier not to show up, because all of Italy had been asking her not to fight for days,” Renzini said.

“But Angela was motivated and wanted to do it. Of course when she met her opponent at the draw, she said ‘it’s not fair’. But there was no premeditation here today.

“She quit after taking one punch, she told me she didn’t feel she could fight. I tried to tell her to at least get to the end of the first round so we would fight, but she wouldn’t.”

Khelif is due to compete again in the quarter-finals on Saturday afternoon. Another boxer who has previously failed gender eligibility test, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting, will make her Paris Olympics debut on Friday in the featherweight category.
Ministers hit out at Games criteria

The participation of Khelif and Lin was controversial even before Thursday’s knockout. The captain of the Australian boxing team said it was “incredibly dangerous” while one of Khelif’s previous opponents said she was simply grateful she had escaped from the ring safely.

Eugenia Roccella, Italy’s family and equal opportunities minister, said: “It is surprising that there are no certain, strict, uniform criteria at the international level, and that there can be a suspicion, and far more than a suspicion, of an unfair and potentially dangerous contest for one of the contenders at the Olympics, an event that symbolises sporting fairness”.

Andrea Abodi, the Italian sports minister, echoed those comments. “I find it difficult to understand that there is no alignment in the parameters of minimum hormonal values at an international level, which includes the European and world championships and the Olympics,” Abodi said.

“In the event that represents the highest values of sport, the safety of female and male athletes must be guaranteed, as well as respect for fair competition.”
IOC insists ‘all fighters’ meets rules

The IOC has repeatedly pointed out that the two boxers are women on their passports and their inclusion has been approved.

In a statement issued before the Khelif-Carini fight, the IOC said: “All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations.”

To me, it seems to me a Y chromosome is what matters, not a passport entry (ditto Caster Semenya).

Thoughts?

source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/20 ... ne-khelif/

[Pathca]

I think it’s disgusting that an athlete who has trained,worked hard made sacrifices had to give up her competion after 45 seconds There was talk her nose was broken a female will be killed or badly injured before something is done

[Blaze]

It's a very tricky one. According to Wikipedia "Khelif is not transgender, but she has a disorder of sex development (DSD) which causes some females to have XY chromosomes and blood testosterone levels typical of a male". So where does that leave her ?

I've read somewhere that exercise and weight training done to a greater degree can increase testosterone in women but this is temporary. What is possible is for female athletes to take artificial testosterone to increase muscle .... like anabolic steroids ... I imagine this is the aim of testing. However, in Imane Khelif's case it would seem that the International Boxing rules and the Olympic rules are not quite the same.

[niemeyjt]

It's a very tricky one. According to Wikipedia "Khelif is not transgender, but she has a disorder of sex development (DSD) which causes some females to have XY chromosomes and blood testosterone levels typical of a male". So where does that leave her ?

She is not transgender. She is male - with incompletely developed genitalia (so called DSD).

[Wilbro]

Are we going back to the era of East German female shot putters all built like Geoff Capes?
Quite ridiculous it should not be this way and it would be better if all the female athletes refused to get in the ring with him.

[Polarengineer]

One of the reasons that I think the Olympics are no longer “games”. Boxing, wrestling, fencing, Judo, shooting, archery, etc. are training sessions preparing people for war, a mind set we should all make an effort to change. It is more aggression than competition.

[Bayleaf]

One of the reasons that I think the Olympics are no longer “games”. Boxing, wrestling, fencing, Judo, shooting, archery, etc. are training sessions preparing people for war, a mind set we should all make an effort to change. It is more aggression than competition.

Yes, wasn't it was a showcase by the ancient Greeks, to display their fighting skills (in the nude, apparently! ) I prefer the more modern skill set, like BMX Freestyle - that was lush! Breakdancing next week! Woohoo!

I don't know the story about the boxing incident .....off to investigate.

Edit - managed a quick read before it asked me to subscribe. That's ridiculous - clearly a bloke. Maybe they should have a third class these days with all the gender confusion? That reminds me of the tennis player, Kartal - she seemed more a he than a she, and into body building big time by the looks of it. Things are getting so mixed up, and the "supplements" they take don't help.

[Lori]

Quite ridiculous it should not be this way and it would be better if all the female athletes refused to get in the ring with him.

Agree.

a female will be killed or badly injured before something is done

True. Every time I see a photo of these male competitors that want to compete as women, I feel sick.

[MAD87]

I like the idea of them all completing again in the nude: that might sort out some of the men from the girls.

[Bayleaf]

Wouldn't it just! I see the Irish contestant has refused to play opposite the two male/females.

I see Trump is jumping on the vote for me wagon by saying he'll ban this sort of thing .....