IOC President Thomas Bach spoke out on Saturday condemning the “hate speech” aimed at boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting during the Paris Olympics, labeling it as “totally unacceptable.” Bach emphasized during a news briefing that the International Olympic Committee will not participate in what he described as a politically driven or cultural conflict.
Both Khelif from Algeria and Lin from Taiwan have been under intense scrutiny regarding their gender following their disqualification at the 2023 world championships. The International Boxing Association, which is led by Russia and currently banned from the Olympics due to a longstanding feud with the IOC, removed them from the championships in India 16 months ago based on undisclosed and unproven gender-based tests.
Bach highlighted the fact that both Khelif and Lin were born and raised as women, hold women’s passports, and have competed as women for years. He underscored that some individuals are attempting to impose their own interpretation of what defines a woman.
It is worth noting that both Khelif and Lin participated in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics but did not secure any medals.
