RE: A Total Disgrace
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Essentially, she was born female for all intents and purposes. This case is straightforward and similar to Caster Semenya’s situation. Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting were both assigned female at birth and likely have Swyer syndrome or a similar DSD (Differences of Sex Development).
If you saw their genitalia, it would appear female. They did not undergo surgery or transition; they were born this way and were raised as females until their 20s. Imane Khelif was around 21 or 22 when she took the test, and Lin Yu-ting was about 24 or 25. Details about the specific tests are not available.
I understand concerns about them competing with women due to potentially higher testosterone levels. A possible solution could be similar to what was done with Caster Semenya: requiring medication to lower testosterone levels and then allowing them to compete. Both Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting competed in the Tokyo Olympics and nobody had a problem. As far as I know neither of them even medaled.
Honestly, what saddens me is seeing people label them as transgender or men. Imagine being told you have a baby girl, raising her for over 20 years, and then discovering she has XY chromosomes. As a parent, would you start calling your daughter a man and judging her so harshly?
I understand this situation mainly because we saw what happened with Caster. How the Olympic Committee is treating this is wrong on both levels ad is unfair on these two individuals as well as the other competitors. I know Caster was not allowed to compete unless she reduced the testosterone levels in her body and the same should happen here. This is a rare condition and a solution needs to be found and they have had a good 5 years to sort this out which they have not.
I agree that a solution needs to be found, but I'm not sure what it is. Honestly, I’m not even clear on what Khelif and Yu-Ting actually failed.
Umar Kremlev came out and said they have XY chromosomes, but the IBA won’t make an official statement.
However, if you look at the board meeting notes that banned both of these boxers in 2023, they mention that the same complaint was raised in 2022 at the previous IBA Boxing World Championships. They were tested at that time, but the results came back only after the competition, so they weren’t banned. The notes also state that the results from the 2022 test were the same as those from the 2023 test. If the 2022 test showed that they had XY chromosomes, why were they even allowed to compete in 2023? That’s not something that would disappear.
https://www.iba.sport/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/BoD-meeting-minutes_New-Delhi_FV-approved.pdf