A boxer who failed two past gender eligibility tests dominated the women’s welterweight final Olympic boxing match on Friday, taking home the gold.
Imane Khelif of Algeria fought against China’s Yang Liu in the final bout, and won every single round. The controversial fighter dominated Yang, as Khelif has with every other female opponent. Khelif never lost a single round during the Paris Olympics, and won every single judge’s card.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) permitted Khelif to compete in the women’s division despite failed gender tests in 2019 and 2023. The Olympics’ gender eligibility standard for boxing is based merely on a fighter’s passport.
“As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams stated at a press conference.
Adams has also made it clear that testosterone levels are not important to the IOC. “Many women can have testosterone which will be called ‘male levels’ and still be women and still compete as women,” he said. “This idea that you do one test for testosterone and that sorts everything out? Not the case, I’m afraid.”