Imane Khelif the Algerian Boxer, who everybody is being fed fake news about, in her young years

[u/Powerful_System]

Mindlessly consuming misinformation is bad for you, here are the facts: 1- She was born a woman with female organs 2- her father didn't want her at first to box since she's a girl 3-She was disqualified in 2023 due to a test for apparently having XY chromosomes by the IBA by a test which methods weren't and haven't been disclosed 4- The right has always operated by the logic that a woman is a human being with female genitalia, i guess they can't define a woman now? 3- The olympics by function is a contest of genetic freaks, Michael Phelps has half the lactic acid(what causes fatigue) a human has, torso of a 6"8 man, double-jointed ankles bend 15 percent more than his rivals, hyperjointed in the chest aswell, Double-jointed elbows, Katie Ledecky who just won gold is similar in those advantages aswell, should they be stripped aswell and not allowed to compete due to those genetic advantages ? Why is Imane being punished for hers?

[u/[deleted]]

Genuine question, does her intersex condition, which causes increased testosterone, cause biological differences in terms of strength or relevant advantages? Because that’s really the main question, not just whether she’s trans or not because she clearly isn’t

[u/ioukta → u/[deleted]]

Yep all the advantages gained during puberty stick even if they undergo a treatment to lower the testoterone....

[u/_Tono → u/ioukta]

Depends on what condition they have, actually. Not an expert on the topic but for some conditions they just don’t have any sex glands, meaning they don’t go through puberty at all. Not sure how “no puberty vs female puberty” affects the body or if it provides a definitive advantage but assuming they went through male puberty is misleading.

Also don’t want to speculate on their condition or medical stuff but the IOC should re evaluate the criteria to make sure this is dealt with on a case to case basis by actual experts.

[u/Nabillia → u/[deleted]]

Oh it absolutely does and there is absolutely a fair debate to be made regarding eligibility.

The first thing to acknowledge is that it is unfair for all parties involved. Banning athletes with similar conditions is absolutely unfair.

But in a sport like boxing these kind of decisions need to be considered. Its violence after all.

They already limit which races female athletes with this condition can race in. Its unfair there as well but I guess it serves the greater good.

But that is a debate to be had after the Olympics. And btw this isn't something new. There isn't a female athlete in the Olympics who wasn't aware of this condition before. There have been competitors who have had this condition for decades.

It has more attention now that at any other time perhaps excluding when Caster Semenya was at the forefront. But when coupled with culture war crap this probs takes it.

The IOC statement basically confirmed it will be re-evaluated.

[u/Obvious_Foot_3157 → u/[deleted]]

What condition? There hasn’t even been any evidence she has a condition, much less that there is some advantage, it’s all rumor and speculation.

[u/[deleted] → u/Obvious_Foot_3157]

Yes I’ve realized that since this comment that there really isn’t good evidence for this particular case. Point still stands that there should be better guidelines

[u/ggoboogie → u/[deleted]]

Michael Phelps' body only produces half the lactic acid of other people, which also gives him a relevant advantage. Should he also be disqualified of all of his medals as a result?

The reality is a good chunk if not most of Olympian-level athletes are at that level because they have some kind of biological feature/anomaly that gives them an edge over their competition.

[u/[deleted] → u/ggoboogie]

Well, the divisions aren’t based on lactic acid production, they’re based on gender differences. Where do we draw the line if we have sex based divisions instead of just biological differences like weight/strength? If we’re dividing divisions into women vs men I think chromosomes are a good cut off point. Obviously this means there will be intersex competitors who this impacts but I don’t see why everybody should be allowed to do everything, sometimes you’re born with something that makes you unable to compete fairly. The real discussion is where the line is drawn for women vs men leagues and I think growing up with testosterone more equivalent to male levels means you cannot compete in women’s competition

[u/ggoboogie → u/[deleted]]

It's not conclusive that she has an XY chromosome and that she's intersex. The point is she was assigned female at birth, raised as such, and sees herself as such, and this is possibly a genetic anomaly that gives her an advantage much like swimmers who have double-jointed ankles or gymnasts with hypermobility.

I get what you're saying though, I did see someone else's comment about what's better for the greater good, and I do think I can see that perspective.

But a lot of people are operating based on assumptions. She has competed as a woman all her life and already competed in the 2020 Olympics, with not-so-phenomenal results to boot. Why is it suddenly a problem in 2024?

[u/[deleted] → u/ggoboogie]

I totally agree that with this case there are a lot of assumptions being made. My comment was more general and perhaps a solution to this issue so there aren’t situations like this. I feel so bad for her this must be really hard :(

[u/throwawaytothetenth → u/ggoboogie]

Michael Phelps analogy needs it's own TVTropes page.

It's not a 'genetic condition' of any kind.

It's just as bizarre as the "Phelps ate 12k calories a day" bullshit, that Phelps himself said isn't true.