Olympic boxing champ Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to fight for new governing body
London (AP): Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to participate in upcoming events with the sport's new governing body.
World Boxing announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes on Friday. The governing body specifically mentioned Khelif when announcing the policy, saying the Algerian gold medal winner must be screened before she will be approved to fight at any upcoming events, including the Eindhoven Box Cup next month in the Netherlands.
“The introduction of mandatory testing will be part of a new policy on Sex, Age and Weight' to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women,” World Boxing wrote in a statement. The fighters' national federations will be responsible for administering the tests and providing the results to World Boxing.
Khelif won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics last summer amid international scrutiny on her and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, another gold medal winner. The previous governing body for Olympic boxing, the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association, disqualified both fighters from its 2023 world championships after claiming they had failed an unspecified eligibility test.
The IOC ran the past two Olympic boxing tournaments after the banishment of the IBA for decades of misdeeds and controversy, and it applied the sex eligibility rules used in previous Olympics. Khelif and Lin were eligible to compete under those standards.
Khelif intends to return to international competition next month in Eindhoven as part of her plan to defend her gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, but some boxers and their federations had already spoken out to protest her inclusion.
Chromosome testing was common in Olympic sports during the 20th century, but was largely abandoned in the 1990s because of numerous ambiguities that couldn't be easily resolved by the tests, collectively known as differences in sex development (DSD). Many sports switched to hormone testing to determine sex eligibility, but those tests require governing bodies to make difficult decisions on the eligibility of women with naturally high testosterone levels.
Three months ago, World Athletics — the governing body for track and field — became the first Olympic sport to reintroduce chromosome testing, requiring athletes who compete in the women's events to submit to the test once in their careers.
World Boxing has been provisionally approved to replace the IBA as the governing body at the Los Angeles Games, but it has faced significant pressure from boxers and their federations to create sex eligibility standards.
World Boxing announced that all athletes over 18 years old in its competitions must undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genetic test to determine their sex at birth. The PCR test detects chromosomal material through a mouth swab, saliva or blood.
If an athlete intending to compete in the women's categories is determined to have male chromosomal material, “initial screenings will be referred to independent clinical specialists for genetic screening, hormonal profiles, anatomical examination or other valuation of endocrine profiles by medical specialists,” World Boxing wrote. The policy also includes an appeals process.
The boxing body's decision is the latest development in a tumultuous period in Olympic sex eligibility policy. The issue of transgender participation in sports has become an international flashpoint, with President Donald Trump and other conservative world leaders repeatedly weighing in.
Earlier this year, World Athletics also proposed recommendations that would apply strict rules to athletes who were born female but had what the organization describes as naturally occurring testosterone levels in the typical male range. In 2023, World Athletics banned transgender athletes who had transitioned male to female and gone through male puberty.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said he felt confident that the body's new rules would withstand legal challenges.
The 26-year-old Khelif had competed in women's boxing events under the IBA's auspices without controversy until the 2023 world championships. She had never won a major international competition before her dominant performance in the women's welterweight division in Paris.
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'The Ba**ds of Bollywood’ mirrors my life, damages my reputation: Sameer Wankhede tells Delhi HC
New Delhi: IRS officer Sameer Wankhede has submitted his reply to the Delhi High Court in the defamation case he filed against Red Chillies Entertainment, the production company owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan. The case pertains to the recently released series The Ba**ds of Bollywood*, which Wankhede claims has defamed him.
In his statement to the court, Wankhede asserted that the show’s portrayal of a police officer is clearly based on him and has caused serious harm to his public image. He cited four key reasons supporting his claim.
First, he said the character in question bears physical similarities to him, including facial and body features. Second, he noted that the character’s working style and mannerisms closely resemble his own.
Third, Wankhede highlighted that the officer in the show is depicted making a high-profile arrest involving a major film personality, which he said directly mirrors his own involvement in the Aryan Khan drug case.
Fourth, he pointed out that the character frequently uses the phrase “Satyameva Jayate,” a motto he himself had used during media interactions in the course of that investigation. He argued that using the national motto in such a context cannot be dismissed as creative expression or humour.
Wankhede also referred to an interview in which Aryan Khan allegedly admitted that the show was “inspired by some real events.” This, he said, contradicts Red Chillies Entertainment’s claim that The Ba**ds of Bollywood* is purely fictional.
He further alleged that the tone and intent of the series indicate personal and institutional vendetta, aimed at discrediting and defaming him rather than engaging in artistic storytelling.
Wankhede informed the court that the fallout from the show has affected his family, with his wife and sister receiving abusive and vulgar messages online.
Rejecting Red Chillies’ argument that he is a “thin-skinned” officer, Wankhede said that a public servant cannot be expected to tolerate false and damaging portrayals simply because of his position. He emphasized that his legal action seeks to protect the constitutional rights and dignity of both himself and his family.
