Paris Olympics 2024 has been surrounded by controversies since its inception. This time the issue is the Algerian boxer Iman Khalif, who entered the boxing ring, who identifies herself as a woman, but has chromosomes like men, and even has very high levels of male hormones. That is, biologically they are men, but they identify themselves as women. Now there are two camps regarding this. One section is in support of the Algerian woman, while the other section is demanding that no person suffering from gender crisis should get entry in women’s sports.
What happened in the boxing ring
On Thursday there was a competition between Italy’s Angela Carini and Algeria’s Iman Khalif. However, Italian boxer Carini withdrew from the match after the second punch. She cried while sitting on her knees. Also he was heard telling the coach that this was not right. Carini later stated to the press that he had never received such a powerful punch in his entire career.
the matter is heated
Carini’s competitor Iman Khalif is the same player who was not allowed to participate in the match in the year 2023 by the International Boxing Association after failing the gender test. Now she could participate in the Olympics but after the very first match the question is being raised that the man was removed to compete with the woman. From big influencers to Elon Musk are saying the same thing on social media. Even the Boxing Association raised questions on the Olympic Committee regarding gender test.
Iman Khalifa is a victim of this disease
Time and again Khalif is being called transgender, whereas it is not so. At the time of birth, she was considered female, which was decided by looking at the structure of her sexual organs. This is what is written on his birth certificate.
Khalifa, who was born a woman and considers herself a woman, is struggling with a problem called Differences of Sex Development (DSD). In this, not only does the level of male hormone testosterone become very high in the woman, but she also has male chromosomes XY. Let us tell you that XX chromosomes are found in women. Earlier there was a term for this disease – intersex. Now it is called DSD.
Chromosomal manipulation occurs
DSD means a person who has female chromosomes in a male body, or male chromosomes in a female body. It is also avoided to directly call them biologically male or female because the matter is really complex. Due to male hormones and chromosomes in the female body, strength may also be slightly more than that of women.
Such a case has been seen in India also
Professional runner Dutee Chand had to face a lot of controversies during the Games. In fact, Chand is a victim of a disease in which the level of male hormone testosterone increases so much that he falls into the category of male runners on an international scale. Due to this problem called hyperandrogenism, Chand was told that she could run with women only when their hormone levels reduced.
Gender test has been going on for a long time
Such incidents have been happening for a long time. For transparency in male-female competition, gender test started being conducted in all major international competitions including the Olympics. In this, the level of male or female hormones in a player is checked. According to a report by Scientific American, the sex testing policy in sports is around 100 years old.
Feeling suspicious after seeing strong women
For the first time in the year 1928, women players got a chance to run in the Olympics. People used to doubt that an athlete who could run so fast could not be a woman. Within eight years, the World Athletes (then International Amateur Athlete Federation) decided that they would allow women who looked suspicious to participate in the competition only after investigating them. This was gender testing.
There used to be a nude parade.
In the beginning, due to lack of reliable testing methods, athletes were tested even by making them naked. By the year 1966, this nude parade started happening for all women. This parade used to take place in front of the committee panel. After two years, due to an uproar, chromosomes started being examined. After this, the International Olympic Committee started testing hyperandrogenism, that is, testing hormones apart from chromosomes.
Mandatory testing was banned in 1999, but athletes who appear suspicious are still tested.