Olympic president gaffes at surprise press conference before defending Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting’s participation in women’s boxing, insisting they were ‘born as women, raised as women and have female passports’

August 3, 2024

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Olympic president gaffes at surprise press conference before defending Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting’s participation in women’s boxing, insisting they were ‘born as women, raised as women and have female passports’

Olympic President Thomas Bach made a shocking – and hugely embarrassing – mistake when he tried to end the gender row that has gripped the Games.

The 70-year-old German leader told reporters that the case, which revolves around the participation of two boxers who failed a gender test last year, was “not a DSD case”.

However, seconds after the end of the press conference, IOC officials made it clear that he had misspoken and that he had meant to say that it was not a “trans case” and not a “DSD case.”

If Bach’s observation had been correct, it would have been an important development that might have put an end to a debate raging around the world.

Questions have been raised about the participation of Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting, who were disqualified from last year’s world championships after reportedly failing a gender test. Neither is trans, but officials from the Russian-backed IBA, which imposed the bans, said they both had XY chromosomes, the male gene.

It seems that Bach’s comment completely refutes this claim.

Thomas Bach made a stunning – and hugely embarrassing – mistake when he tried to end the gender quarrel that has dominated the headlines in women’s boxing at the Olympics

Algerian Imane Khelif is defended by Thomas Bach in her boxing gender dispute

Bach also supported Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting, who has also been at the eye of the gender storm in boxing

In a speech on Saturday, Bach criticized the “hate speech” directed at both sides and said they are women

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A statement to the same effect was then quickly published on social media.

DSD is a rare condition formerly known as disorders of sex development or “intersex” conditions, affecting between 0.05 and 1 percent of the population. It is usually diagnosed at birth, when a baby’s genitals are not clearly visible. Some are born with female genitals but have the male XY chromosome, as well as hidden testicles.

What are differences in sexual development (DSD) or being intersex?

Intersexuality is a collective term for several conditions in which a person’s sexual anatomy is different from that of most other people.

These rare conditions, also called differences in sex development (DSD), originate in the womb.

Normally they are noticed at birth, but sometimes they only become apparent later in life, during puberty.

They result from a combination of genes, hormones, and the arrangement and appearance of the reproductive organs, such as the sex organs.

For example, a girl may be born with a long clitoris but a closed vagina due to a hormonal condition.

In other cases, a boy may be born with a penis but have a uterus and internal, fairly regular, external testicles.

Some of these features are associated with an extra chromosome, such as Klinefelter syndrome.

There is some evidence that DSDs run in families, but in most cases there is no clear cause.

People with DSD sometimes undergo shocking medical treatments.

Sometimes so-called ‘corrective surgeries’ were performed to ‘repair’ the genitals of babies so that they better matched one gender.

For example, boys born without a penis, a DSD also called aphallia, are sometimes subjected to “feminizing surgery” to create an artificial vagina.

Historically, this has led to people being raised as girls, but growing facial hair and a deeper voice when male puberty begins.

DSD charities have also criticised this ‘corrective’ approach, as it is typically driven by societal expectations rather than medical benefit to the patient.

However, people with very specific DSDs do require medical care, as other health issues may also occur.

However, the vast majority of patients do not require medical care.

The frequency of DSDs varies by type. There are more than 40 separate conditions that fall under the term.

A rough estimate is that 1.7 percent of the population, approximately one in fifty people, is born with some form of DSD.

Bach made the gaffe when asked why the IOC wouldn’t reintroduce the gender test, and whether they would allow DSD athletes and trans women to compete if their passports stated they were female. He had previously launched a defence of the two boxers, stating there was “never any doubt” they were women.

“We’re talking about women’s boxing,” Bach had said. “We have two boxers who were born as women, who were raised as women, who have a passport as women and who have competed as women for many years. This is the clear definition of a woman.”

After his mistake, he added: “This is about a woman competing in a women’s race,” Bach said.

“I think I’ve explained this many times. I want to ask everyone to respect these women. To respect them as women, to respect them as people and not to let them anywhere near the confusion that some people want to create.”

Both boxers won their opening fights, with Khelif, who fights later on Saturday, making progress in her welterweight bout with Angela Carini after the tearful Italian withdrew after 46 seconds, later saying she stopped “to save her life”.

Bach, who made an unexpected appearance before the media, also slammed the “hate speech” directed at both athletes and added that he had no problem with their participation. He also claimed that the IOC was working within the only framework available to it.

“What we see now is that some want to embrace the definition of what a woman is,” the German said.

‘I can only invite them to come up with a scientifically based new definition of who a woman is and how someone who is born, raised and fought as a woman cannot be considered a woman. If they come up with something, we are willing to look at it, but we will not participate in a politically motivated culture war. Let me say that what is happening in this context on social media with all this hate speech, aggression and insults, fueled by this agenda, is totally unacceptable.’

The IBA, which is effectively at war with the IOC, has not given clear details. They have only said that both sides failed the gender test. These tests were carried out after concerns were raised.

The decision to expel the boxers was taken by the Russian-led IBA, which had been removed from its role as Olympic organizer due to concerns about governance.

Asked whether the commotion was the result of a Russian disinformation campaign aimed at destabilising the Games, Bach replied: ‘What we have seen from the Russian side, and in particular from the IBA, whose recognition we had to withdraw for many reasons, is that long before the Games they have been conducting a smear campaign against France, against the Games, against the IOC.’

Khelif won her women’s welterweight fight when Angela Carini (right) stopped

The Italian boxer fell to her knees after giving up and was seen crying in the ring

Khelif’s participation in the event has been a source of controversy after she was disqualified from last year’s Women’s World Boxing Championships

Uzbek boxer Sitora Turdibekova was seen crying after her loss to Lin

Lin won her opening bout in the women’s featherweight boxing event Friday night

Bach added: ‘They have made some comments about this which I do not wish to repeat. If you want to have an idea of the credibility of the information coming from this unrecognised federation, I can only advise you to look at the comments they have made recently and make your own judgement.’

Bach was flanked by Paris 2024 boss Tony Estanguet and comms chief Anne Descamps when he made the blunder. Estanguet and Bach had previously spoken about the success of the Games in a bid to gain control of the narrative.

August 3, 2024

0 132 5 minutes read