NEWYou can now listen to PK Press Club articles!
Global boxing, the International Director of Sports of Boxing, announced on Wednesday a new policy which introduces compulsory sexual tests to guarantee that only women compete in the category of women.
The change occurred a year after the world watched Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting, two boxers who previously failed sexual tests, winning Olympic Boxing Boxing Medals in Paris.
The gold medal of Khelif and Yu-Ting caused a global reaction and controversy in the midst of increasing concerns concerning men who participate in female sports. Now World Boxing has introduced a policy that will effectively prevent similar incidents from occurring during future events.
Imane Khelif from Algeria and Luca Anna Hamori of Hungary are fighting. (Sina Schuldt / Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
“Global boxing respects the dignity of all individuals and wishes to ensure that it is as inclusive as possible, but in a combat sport like boxing, we have the duty to provide the security and competitiveness of equity which are the key principles that guided the development and creation of this policy,” said the president of the World Boxing Boris Van Vorst in the announcement.
“It was a long and detailed process, but it was essential that we have examined all the medical, legal and sporting problems raised by this problem and I am convinced that during the introduction of tests to certify the admissibility of an athlete to compete as a male or female sex, the new policy on the sexual age and the weight” will offer a sporting integrity.
“We recognize that the problems linked to boxing eligibility are more pronounced in female events, which is why we first made the decision to implement politics in the female category, where it will apply to the next world boxing championships and this has been communicated to all our national member federations some time ago, to allow them to start the test process.
The former Upenn swimmer is thinking about being teammates with Lia Thomas
REMANE KHELIF of Team Algeria looks against Anna Luca Hamori of Team Hongury during the round quarter -final match of 66 kg female on the eighth day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in North Paris Arena on August 33, 2024 in Paris, France. (Images Richard Pelham / Getty)
The new policy has said that national teams will be responsible for testing and confirming the biological sex of their athletes when they entered competitions, via PCR or functional medical equivalent genetic test.
The national teams must now ensure the certification of their chromosomal sex and the fact of not providing it will make the athlete ineligible to compete and could even lead to sanctions against the athlete and the national team.
Mandatory tests will be affected just in time for the 2025 boxing world championships in Liverpool from September 4.
Lin Yu-Ting looks before the 57 kg female match against Esra Yildiz Kahraman from Team Turkey the day twelve of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Roland Garros on August 07, 2024 in Paris, France. (Images Richard Pelham / Getty)
In a letter in May to the national team from Khelif, the Algerian Boxing Federation, World Boxing announced that it would adopt compulsory sexual tests and that Khelif should spend one to participate in the Eindhoven box cup in June.
Khelif ended up jumping the tournament.
President Donald Trump said there will be a “strong test form” when they were asked for potential genetic tests for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games at a press conference on August 5.
