Boxer Imane Khelif, a boxer competing in the Women’s category, beat Angela Carini after 46 seconds and only a few punches. Angela then broke down in tears afterwards and said it was “the hardest she has ever been hit”
Imane was banned from 2023 tournaments, as she has higher testosterone levels compared to other females. (I honestly don’t even know what her sex is at the moment, I think she’s intersex but a lot of people are saying she is a biological male)
But anyway, having a higher testosterone means she has a huge advantage with strength and muscle mass so do you believe it is unfair for her to compete?
comments (single view)
I’m no expert, but there’s seems to have been a lot of misinfo from what I’ve seen. From all my Googling, from trusted sources like the BBC, all have said that Khelif is female, was registered female, and has lived her entire life as female. To all known info, she is biologically female. The Independent said in an article outright that she was born female. It is also illegal in Algeria to be gay or trans. The IBA who disqualified Khelif did so just before the final and without due process, in the IOC’s view: “These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.” (they is used because they are referring to two different boxers, one being Khelif), the IOC also does not recognise the IBA, the gender test done was unspecified too according to Forbes. Another thing to note is Khelif has lost to women in the past. She lost 5 of her 6 elite level bouts and also lost in her second bout during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to the eventual gold medallist according to the AP, so I can’t really see some advantage if other women can beat her. The AP also state she was born assigned female and has had “modest” success before so far in her career. Other female athletes like Serena Williams have been accused of being men when they do well, based off of how they look, too. Again I’m no expert but I don’t get the outcry here considering the info.
They have raised testosterone levels compared to other women which is a big advantage, and womens safety for me is the main issue. You are correct though that she isn’t unstoppable, with her good but not perfect 80% win record.
Like geo said, high T levels are kinda equivalent to having a genetical predisposition for more muscle mass?
//I don’t get the “safety” part - how well you take punches is mainly determined by fat mass, rather than being male or female? even if it was an actual guy hitting, it would be just as (un)safe as men’s boxing, no?
i don’t think you really understand boxing.
a man hitting a women is a lot more dangerous than a women hitting a women in boxing, as men have higher strength and muscle mass. She has higher testosterone than other women, leading to higher strength and muscle mass.
A part of the sport is literally just having higher strength, which can be obtained in various other ways (more exercise, genetics). Also, if the punch was really that strong that its unsafe for women (which it isn't, because she has only a 80% winrate), how come it is safe for men? Tissue damage is not affected by gender AFAIK
I don’t think you understand what you’re talking about. Testosterone makes it easier to gain muscle from exercising, genetics aren’t really an issue (it’s likely most if not all high end boxers have favourable genetics for their sport) and whilst she isn’t undefeated, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a biological advantage.