Australian featherweight world champion Skye Nicolson has defended the boxers at the centre of the Olympic gender row, accusing people of ‘jumping on the bandwagon without knowing all the details’.
Nicolson, who won the WBC featherweight title earlier this year, revealed in a video on her Instagram Story that she had fought and sparred with Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting, both of whom have been embroiled in controversy at this summer’s Olympic Games.
The two female fighters were allowed to compete in the women’s class in Paris despite being disqualified from last year’s world championships after tests revealed they contained male ‘XY chromosomes’.
Their participation in the Olympics has sparked outrage online and in the media, with several public figures criticizing the decision to allow them to compete.
However, Nicolson stresses that both Khelif and Yu-Ting were born girls and lashes out at their critics for jumping to conclusions.
Women’s featherweight world champion Skye Nicolson has defended the boxers at the centre of the gender battle at the Olympics
Imane Khelif (left) and Lin Yu-Ting (right) were cleared to compete in the women’s category despite being disqualified from last year’s world championships over questions about their gender.
The Australian boxer said in her video message: “I just want to clarify a couple of things. One, I have actually fought and sparred with both girls. They were born female.
‘They’re born with an XY chromosome, which is the male chromosome, but they’re born with female bodies. They have the physical characteristics of a woman.
“They’ve grown up as girls, as females, as women. They’ve been fighting as women all the time. These are not natural-born men who decided to call themselves women or identify as women in order to compete against women in the Olympics.”
Khelif, who also competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, was disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing gender eligibility tests ahead of her scheduled gold medal match. Yu-Ting was stripped of her bronze after a similar result.
When the athletes were disqualified, International Boxing Association (IBA) president Umar Kremlev claimed that tests had shown they had “XY chromosomes”.
He added that they “unmasked athletes who tried to mislead their colleagues and pretended to be women.”
Nicolson, who has fought and sparred both women, stressed that they were both born female
The Australian boxer has held the WBC featherweight title since April this year
Nicolson continues: ‘When the IBA decided to do a chromosome test at the random world championships, it was discovered that these two athletes had XY chromosomes.
‘It wasn’t a testosterone test, it wasn’t like they didn’t pass something like that. It wasn’t a physical test, they don’t have the physical attributes of a man.
‘And while it’s a bit of a gray area, I find the abuse and power of the media and people jumping on the bandwagon without knowing all the details absolutely appalling.
“These girls have represented their country on many, many occasions as female fighters for many, many years and they do not deserve this abuse. I think they have had the misfortune to be in the situation that they are in, and then to receive all this criticism.”
To add to the outrage, Khelif completely dominated Italy’s Angela Carini in her short-lived opening match of the Olympics on Thursday, with her female opponent having to retire after just 46 seconds.
Yu-Ting also won her opening match on Friday, albeit in a less brutal manner, after beating Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova on points.
Khelif completely dominated Italy’s Angela Carini in her short-lived opening match of the Olympic Games
Yu-Ting also won her opening match on Friday, albeit in a less brutal manner, after beating Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova on points
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The International Boxing Association (IBA) issued a statement Wednesday in response to the Olympic controversy, saying the decision to disqualify both fighters was made “after careful review.”
The IOC issued a strong statement in response on Friday: “All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the eligibility and participation requirements of the competition, as well as all applicable medical requirements established by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit in relation to previous Olympic boxing competitions. The gender and age of the athletes are based on their passports.
‘Towards the end of the 2023 IBA World Championships, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process. According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially made solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO.’