PARIS — As Algerian boxer Imane Khelif prepares to compete for an Olympic gold medal on Friday, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach reiterated his support for her right to participate in the women’s events at the Paris Olympics. Khelif is competing in the women’s welterweight final, while Li Yu-ting from Taiwan is vying for the title in the women’s featherweight category on Saturday. This comes amid a global debate fueled by misunderstandings surrounding their gender.
“This is not a question of inclusion. This is a question of justice,” Bach stated on Friday during his latest press conference when asked whether the Olympics had compromised safety for the sake of inclusivity. “It is not as simple as some may want to portray in this cultural war,” said the IOC president, who has previously condemned the “hate speech” directed at both boxers.
The controversy at the Olympics arose 16 months after both women were disqualified and denied medals by the Russia-dominated International Boxing Association (IBA) at the 2023 World Championships. The IBA, which is in a bitter conflict with the IOC, claims that neither fighter passed an unclear eligibility test for women’s competition. The boxing events in Paris are supervised by an IOC-appointed team following eligibility rules established in 2016, which have become outdated compared to those in other Olympic sports.
“If someone presents us with a scientifically sound system to identify men and women, we would be the first to implement it,” Bach explained on Friday. “We do not like this uncertainty. What is not acceptable is for someone to say ‘this is not a woman’ merely by looking at a person or succumbing to a smear campaign from a disreputable organization with high political stakes.”
The IOC president also mentioned that he will not attend the gold medal matches at the Roland Garros tennis venue, as he still needs to participate in four out of the 32 Olympic sports before the games conclude on Sunday. “But this does not affect our very clear position,” Bach asserted. “Women have the right to compete in women’s events. And both of them are women.”