Review of gender
Olympic champion Khelif pulls against genetic tests in front of the sports court
01.09.2025 – 8:32 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
At the Olympic Games, the participation of IMANE KHELIF triggered excitement. This now continues in court.
Imane Khelif has made an appeal against a decision by the World Boxing Association World Boxing at the International Sports Court (CAS), which prohibits her participation in upcoming events without prior gene test. The CAS announced that. World Boxing had recently decided that all boxers who want to start a gender test in the women’s category at the World Championships from September 4th to 14th in Liverpool had to complete a gender test.
Khelif had already submitted an appointment on August 5, in which the CAS is asked to allow the 26-year-old at the World Championships without testing. The CAS declined the demand to suspend the tests until a decision has been made. When a judgment can be expected was not announced. A hearing would be scheduled, it said.
“The guideline is intended to ensure the security of all participants and create equal competitive conditions for men and women,” World Boxing justified the introduction of gender tests. All athletes over the age of 18 would have to undergo a PCR test or a functional, medically equivalent genetic screening test to determine their birthplain, it said in a letter.
At the summer games in Paris, the debate about Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting from Taiwan had triggered massive vertebrae and accepted a socio-political dimension. Both boxers were excluded by the 2023 World Cup after the Association IBA, which is no longer recognized by the International Olympic Committee. According to the IBA, both would not have met the necessary participation criteria and had “competitive advantages compared to other female participants”.
The IOC called it an “arbitrary decision without proper procedure” and had Khelif and Lin participate in Paris. The gender given in the passport was decisive for admission to the competitions, was a reason. Both won gold.
World Boxing was recognized by the IOC Executive Council as a partner in February. For the organization of the boxing tournaments in Paris in 2024 and three years earlier in Tokyo, the IOC had taken responsibility after the IBA suspension. In 2028 in Los Angeles, World Boxing is supposed to take over the organization.