1/ This is a summary of my take on the controversy surrounding Olympic boxing. If any facts are wrong, please help me correct them. Sorry for the long thread.
2/ Two boxers have been allowed to compete in the Olympics despite failing a sex verification test by the IBA around the time of the 2023 World Championships.
3/ The IBA confirms that it is a lab test, but does not provide further details. However, the president of the IBA has stated that the athletes have XY chromosomes.
4/ It was also stated that the test was not a testosterone test. We can also note that the current IBA rules define men and women on the basis of chromosomes and that they can subject athletes to a test to verify this.
5/ It therefore seems highly unlikely that this laboratory test is anything other than a test to confirm the Y chromosome. It is also worth noting that none of the athletes have taken the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
6/ The IOC repeatedly refers to the fact that these athletes are females in their passport.
7/ There are various disorders of sex development (DSD) that affect XY people. Some of these are related to male development relevant to sport (male-typical puberty), and some of these (such as Swyers and CAIS) are most likely not associated with a clear performance advantage.
8/ However, the IBA's initial statement said that not only did they fail the sex verification test, but they also “were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors”. It is not known how this was determined.
9/ At this time, the exact nature of the boxers’ conditions has not been disclosed. The IOC spokesperson said it was not a transgender issue.
10/ The current assumption, of course, is therefore that it is a male DSD related to male development, such as 5ARD, the same condition that Caster Semenya, the well-known case in athletics, has.
11/ 5ARD is a male DSD in which affected individuals have underdeveloped male external genitalia and are therefore sometimes registered as female at birth. The condition may not be discovered until puberty. Some of these people go on to live and identify as women, others as men.
12/ In sport, we do not necessarily need to discuss what a woman is, even though it is clear from a biological perspective what a female is (they have the anatomy and physiology to support the larger gamete, the egg).
13/ What we need to do is separate those who have the male performance advantage from those who do not, because that's what the female category is meant to exclude.
14/ Categorization in sports is about bodies. Some advantages (the maturity of a 16-year-old over the maturity of a 10-year-old, or being male over being female) are so great in sports that we need different categories for those who lack these categorical advantages.
15/ Being male is not talent and should not be rewarded more than being female. The inclusion of athletes with male performance advantages in women's sport is a violation of the very important principles of fair and safe competition for female athletes.
16/ What can the IOC and other governing bodies do to prevent this situation? They need to set eligibility criteria based on male development vs. female development.
17/ One way to accurately determine sex is to reintroduce cheek swabs at elite competitions. This is a minimally invasive test that confirms the presence of genetic material from the Y chromosomes. Female athletes generally support this.
18/ It is important to note that the presence of XY should not automatically lead to disqualification – all identified cases need to be investigated further to determine the nature of the condition – is it associated with male development or not?
19/ Hopefully this whole situation at the Olympics will lead to this issue being better regulated and handled in the future. The lack of leadership on this issue leads to an unnecessary focus on individual athletes – just like the first cases in athletics.
20/ I and other academics have already made suggestions on how sport should deal with this issue: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…
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