Olympic boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting are women. They were born female. That is what doctors determined when they were infants, and it has been their sex ever since. They have never done anything to change it. Neither is transgender.
How remarkable it is, then, that famous critics of transgenderism have been wildly contradicting themselves over the last few days. They have declared for years that people are the sex they were assigned at birth, no matter what changes they make to their bodies. Now — with no evidence aside from the more traditionally masculine build of Khelif from Algeria and Lin from Taiwan — they have decided the two are men and insultingly bandy that about in interviews and hateful social media posts.
Children’s author J.K. Rowling, who has become an informal figurehead of the anti-trans movement, described Khelif’s win as “a man beating a woman in public for your entertainment” and posted other denigrating comments calling Khelif male.
Interesting that Rowling and other critics, such as vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance and tech entreprenuer Elon Musk had no objection when these two women boxed during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics — and lost to multiple other women, taking no medals. No complaints that the winning female boxers in Tokyo were unfairly beating up on men.
It was Khelif’s surprising victory last week over Italian boxer Angela Carini that got everyone worked up. Not surprising that Carini could lose — she also lost her first bout in the Tokyo Games — but she withdrew so quickly, after a heavy blow to her face. Her critics claimed the force of the blow must have been due to Khelif’s level of male hormones or male something.
Those crying foul have bolstered their claims by pointing to the 2022 decision by the Russian-run International Boxing Assn. that tests showed the two boxers had abnormalities that made them ineligible to compete as women. Talk about curious timing — the decision was made after Khelif bested a Russian boxer. But the scandal-ridden IBA has been banished by the International Olympic Committee since 2019, and the IOC has since called its tests on Khelif and Lin “so flawed that it was impossible to deal with.”
The boxers’ case is similar to that of Caster Semenya, Olympic gold-medal-winning runner in the 2012 and 2016 Games, who has a condition that causes testosterone levels more typical of a male. But, despite the rumors, there’s no evidence that Khelif or Lin Yu-ting have high testosterone levels or Y chromosomes.
Nor should it matter. Elite athletes usually have physical attributes that give them an advantage. For swimmer Michael Phelps, those include very large hands and feet that propel him through the water, along with a torso that’s big for his size, helping with buoyancy. Gymnasts, basketball players and other star athletes generally have uncommon, inborn characteristics that they hone through discipline, practice and grit to reach the top. Where the concept of unfairness comes in is when athletes enhance their natural attributes through banned substances.
The IOC does not ignore issues of transgenderism or other possible unfair advantages, but takes them on a case-by-case basis, basing decisions on evidence and science, as it should.
Unlike Rowling and her ilk, the IOC has the medical histories of the two boxers in hand, considered the science and concluded that they do not have an unfair advantage, and that they are what they say they are and have been since birth. Women.
