Misguided narratives harm sports integrity and athlete dignity

SHAH ALAM - Misguided narratives have a harmful impact on sports integrity and athlete dignity, says The Sports Examiner.

In a statement, the group of sports researchers, Olympians and advocates raised concerns over the sharing of unverified stories that misgender athletes contributed to a dangerous vilification process.

This came after social media and news outlets were flooded with stories about two boxers, Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting.

The Sports Examiner said that based on rumours and hearsay, many people believed that these athletes were deliberately lying about their condition to compete in the women's category.

This narrative, it said intensified when Khelif won her first bout at Paris 2024, leading to unfounded assumptions that her victory was due to an alleged competitive advantage.

"While advocating for fairness in sports, we must also ensure our conditions are fair and grounded in facts," it said.

It said ensuring fair competition was paramount and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) employed rigorous processes to verify eligibility.

Accusations made without evidence undermined the integrity of sports more than following established and fair procedures, it added.

"Creating and spreading false stories undermines the integrity of women’s sports and it’s dangerous to athlete safety and wellbeing," The Sports Examiner said.

The athletes, it said were also caught in a political conflict between the International Boxing Association (IBA) and the IOC's Paris 2024 Boxing Unit, further complicating the situation.

It also noted that homosexuality and gender transition were legally prohibited in Algeria and such accusations can have severe, lasting consequences on athletes' lives, potentially leading to stigma and discrimination for years to come.

The facts (Source: The Sports Examiner):

1. Imane Khelif & Lin Yu-Ting are both women. They were born and raised as such.

2. The IBA tests were never fully disclosed and sex verification tests lack scientific validation, questioning their reliability.

3. The IBA has been discredited by the IOC over corruption, highlighting concerns about the reliability of the IBA's criteria and their processes.

Note: The discrediting of the IBA by the IOC means that the association's practices and procedures do not fall in line with IOC's standards and requirements, leading to a loss of trust in their governance and their capabilities to govern the sport of boxing.

The athletes have been competing since 2018. The credibility and motivation of their disqualification and the tests that led to that should be questioned.

4. The IOC deemed both athletes eligible based on established criteria used at Tokyo 2020.

The Sports Examiner said the science behind regulating testosterone levels for women athletes was questionable and urgently needed further development.

It said in boxing, fairness was also maintained through weight classification.

This, it said suggested that other established methods like weight classes may provide a more balanced approach to ensure fair competition.

The controversy surrounding Khelif reached a peak at the 2024 Paris Olympics when she pummeled her Italian opponent, Angela Carini, in 46 seconds.

This victory threatened to overshadow the sixth day of the Games and renewed the debate about the inclusion of competitors who have undergone similar eligibility testing.

After the match, it was reported that a distraught Carini shrugged off Khelif's attempts to shake her hand and collapsed to her knees in the middle of the ring, sobbing uncontrollably.

Khelif advanced to the quarter-finals of the women's 66kg category after delivering two strong punches that left Carini with a badly hurt nose.

The Italian boxer, unable to continue, had blood on her shorts as she was declared unable to carry on.