For the first time, World Boxing is demanding gender tests for participation in the World Championships in Liverpool in September. While Olympic champion Lin Yu-Ting will undergo these tests, Imane Khelif will probably not take part in the tournament.
Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-Ting, the 2024 Olympic featherweight champion (up to 57 kg), will undergo the gender tests required by World Boxing in order to take part in the World Championships in Liverpool (September 4-14). This was confirmed by her coach Tseng Tzuchiang to the AFP news agency. Lin Yuting, together with Algerian Imane Khelif, was at the center of a gender debate at the Olympic Games in Paris.
World Boxing, which is organizing the world championships in Olympic boxing for the first time, confirmed the introduction of gender tests just two weeks before the start of the title fights. “The policy is designed to ensure the safety of all participants and create a level playing field for men and women,” said the World Boxing Association. According to the guidelines, all athletes over the age of 18 must undergo a PCR test.
“The reports are false”
By contrast, Imane Khelif, whose Olympic victory in the welterweight division (up to 66 kg) sparked the fierce gender controversy, will probably not be competing at the World Championships. However, the Algerian denied rumors about the end of her career. “I would like to clarify to the public that the reports about my retirement from boxing are false,” she wrote on her Facebook page. “I have never announced it and remain committed to my sporting career.”
Khelif stated that she would continue to train regularly and keep fit for upcoming sporting challenges. However, she did not comment on a possible participation in the upcoming World Championships in Liverpool. A few days ago, her former manager Nasser Yesfah told the French newspaper “Nice-Matin” that Khelif had put her boxing career on hold.
Text: Frank Schwantes