The International Olympic Committee on Friday spoke out about the abuse the boxers at the center of a furor over gender have received while also saying the pair will remain eligible to compete at the Paris Olympics.
The presence of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting at the Olympics was already a contentious issue since both were disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) during last year’s world championships after the sport’s governing body ruled they “did not meet the required eligibility criteria to compete within the female category of our respective events.”
The issue reached a boiling point on Thursday when Khelif defeated Italy’s Angela Carini, who, after an exchange of punches, withdrew just 46 seconds into their bout in the women’s 66-kg competition.