Bulgarian female boxer Svetlana Staneva made an “XX” chromosome symbol with her fingers after losing to a Taiwanese fighter who failed IBA gender tests in 2023, in a powerful gesture to indicate that she is a woman.
Staneva lost to Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting via a 5-0 unanimous decision on Sunday. Controversy has swirled around both Yu-ting and Algeria’s Imane Khelif following the results of an IBA gender test in 2023, which claimed they both have male chromosomes.
“In 2023, the International Boxing Association (IBA) President Umar Kremlev explained his organization’s decision to disqualify Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting and Algeria’s Imane Khelif, from competing in the IBA’s 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships, according to Russia’s Tass News Agency. “Based on DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to trick their colleagues into posing as women. According to the results of the tests, it was proved that they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from competition,” Kremlev said.
Yu-ting’s victory on Sunday and Khelif’s comprehensive victory on Saturday ensure that both fighters who failed the IBA’s gender tests in 2023 will medal in the 2024 Paris Games.
The victories will do nothing to halt the debate that has raged online and among boxing officials about Khelif’s true gender. World Boxing Organization’s European Vice President István Kovács claims Khelif is a man and that his organization informed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of that.
“The problem was not with the level of Khelif’s testosterone, because that can be adjusted nowadays, but with the result of the gender test, which clearly revealed that the Algerian boxer is biologically male,” Kovács said in an interview with Magyar Nemzet, via Reduxx. Kovács added that, in addition to Khelif and Yu-Ting, five fighters were found to be indeed men.”
Staneva’s coach suggested Yu-ting should not be fighting against females.
Staneva’s coach suggested that Yu-ting should not be fighting women. “I’m not a medical person, so I shouldn’t say if Lin should compete or not,” Borislav Georgiev said. “But when the test shows she has Y (male) chromosomes, she could not be here.”
