Australian sporting figures have slammed the inclusion of biological males in women’s events at the Olympics, raising concerns that female athletes could be seriously injured or even killed.
While there are no known trans-identified males competing in this year’s Olympics, there are reportedly several athletes participating in women’s competitions with “differences of sexual development” (DSDs) who have XY chromosomes and/or high testosterone levels. While we must be sensitive to the difficulties faced by those with DSDs, this does not preclude protecting fairness and safety for female athletes, especially in contact sports like boxing.
The athletes include Zambian footballers Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji, both of whom were excluded from the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations due to their abnormally high testosterone levels. However, the more lenient rules set by FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meant both players were able to play in last year’s World Cup and in this year’s Paris Olympics. While there does not appear to be any reporting suggesting that either player has XY chromosomes, the high testosterone levels raise both fairness and safety issues for the female footballers competing against Banda and Kundananji.
By contrast, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-Ting, both reportedly have male XY chromosomes. This led to both athletes being disqualified from the world championships in New Dehli last year by the International Boxing Association for “failing gender eligibility tests”. However, once again, the Olympics’ more relaxed rules mean both athletes are eligible to compete in the women's boxing events in Paris.
Australian sports journalist Lucy Zelic criticised the IOC, stating “That the International Olympics Committee do not have ‘as strict’ rules...is also a slight on the credibility of the organisation and the sports being contested.”
The news that apparent biological males would be competing in the Olympics’ women’s boxing events drew severe condemnation from Australian sporting figures and commentators.
Fidel Tukel, a top Australian boxing coach who manages female world champion Che Kenneally, and Australian Boxing legend Jeff Fenech, slammed the IOC’s decision.
"A female could get killed or seriously hurt fighting a man,” said Tukel.
“This is a disgrace. How can this happen at the Olympics?"
“What has this world come to?” Fenech asked.
“Listen, I’m all for women’s boxing, but do people understand the damage that can be done if men fight women? Put Mike Tyson in the ring with a female heavyweight and she will end up not just concussed, but with brain damage. My message is if you allow this to happen – watch out. Men and women are built differently. If I hit a woman outside the ring, I would end up in jail. It’s madness.”
In an article for The Spectator, Australian Senator and women’s sport advocate Claire Chandler wrote, “If you want to see what total ideological capture looks like, look no further than the International Olympic Committee allowing two male boxers to fight women at the Paris Olympics.”
“Preventing male boxers from being allowed to repeatedly punch women in the face should be an obvious and easy decision for any sports administrator to make.”
In a post on X that has had more than 17 million views, lawyer and Save Women’s Sports Australasia Co-Founder Katherine Deves shared a clip of Khelif pummelling Mexican female boxer Brianda Tamara in 2022. Deves wrote, “Beating women is now a spectator sport. We have never been more aware as a society of male violence against women. Why are the Olympics allowing this male to enter the boxing ring with a woman?” It is reported that during the fight against Khelif Tamara "felt out of her depth" and thanked God that she got out of the ring safely.
Women’s Forum Australia CEO Rachael Wong also commented on X, “In 2018, a man violently punched a woman in Paris and was sentenced to six months in prison. In 2024, two men will violently punch women in Paris and get a chance to win Olympic medals. IOC, does a woman need to die before this insanity ends?”
The sentiment online from everyday Australians – and those internationally – was one of shock and disgust.
In response to the backlash, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams noted that it is ultimately up to each sport to decide which athletes should compete rather than the IOC. He stated, “everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules. They are women in their passports and it is stated that is the case.”
But as Senator Chandler notes, “This is the crux of the debate about women’s rights and gender ideology.”
“Activists and the organisations they’ve captured say that if a male’s passport says he’s a woman, he’s entitled to punch a woman in the face at the Olympics. Or use women’s change rooms and public toilets. Or be placed in a women’s prison if he commits a crime, even if that crime was a sexual assault against a woman or girl.
“Women from all walks of life are pointing out that this is an extremely dangerous situation for women who are then forced to share these spaces or sports with males. Incredibly, the majority of the media, the celebrity and academic classes and the bureaucracy have sided with those who want men to be allowed in women’s boxing, rather than with the women who point out how dangerous that is.”
Women have already been seriously injured from males competing in women’s sports, including in both boxing and football. It is an utter disgrace that international sporting bodies like the International Olympic Committee, as well as national sporting bodies back home in Australia, continue to allow (or at least fail to prohibit) the inclusion of male athletes in female competitions, at the expense of fairness and safety for women and girls.
Is it really going to take a woman’s death to make them rethink this dangerous and unfair approach? Or perhaps even that won’t be enough to break the spell of gender ideology that has so captured sport and other institutions.
Women’s Forum Australia is an independent think tank that undertakes research, education and public policy advocacy on issues affecting women and girls, with a particular focus on addressing behaviours and practices that are harmful and abusive to them. We are a non-partisan, non-religious, tax-deductible charity. We do not receive any government funding and rely solely on donations to make an impact. Support our work today.
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