• Godort@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    160
    arrow-down
    9
    ·
    3 months ago

    Yes. She’s female and was born female.

    It’s illegal to be transgender in Algeria, and the only complaint came from a Russian boxing body with a history of making suspect claims in the past.

    • ryper@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      87
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      3 months ago

      the only complaint came from a Russian boxing body with a history of making suspect claims in the past

      And that was only after she defeated a previously undefeated Russian. Sounds an awful lot like sore losers making up excuses.

      • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        3 months ago

        Sounds an awful lot like sore losers making up excuses.

        Or, as they’re known in the Olympics, Russians.

        This shit is why I say that Russian athletes shouldn’t be able to compete even under the Olympic flag. Russia has cheated and lied so many times that it baffles me that the IOC even lets them participate.

        Or it would if their corruption knew any bounds.

      • LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        3 months ago

        Where are you getting this info? It was an Italian boxer named Angela Carini that started these allegations after 1 punch: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/08/02/sport/who-is-imane-khelif-olympic-boxer-intl

        Carini apologized Friday for her treatment of Khelif. “I’m sorry for my opponent,” she told Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport. “If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”

        "It wasn’t something I intended to do,” Carini said. “Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke,” she said.

        Her complaint was then taken up by transphobic organizations around the world, including Russian ones: https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/40797618/algeria-imane-khelif-wins-olympic-gold-amid-gender-dispute

        • VerdantSporeSeasoning@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          edit-2
          3 months ago

          So I think that you’re missing that this “controversy” started before this year’s Olympics began. In 2023, a boxing organization (IBA) based out of Russia flagged Khelif as not passing eligibility after she defeated a previously undefeated Russian boxer. Khelif’s disqualification meant the Russian woman kept her undefeated title. I’m lazy & going to copy from Wikipedia here:

          The Washington Post stated, “It remains unclear what standards Khelif and Lin Yu Ting failed [in 2023] to lead to the disqualifications”, further writing, “There never has been evidence that […] Khelif […] had XY chromosomes or elevated levels of testosterone.” The IBA did not reveal the testing methodology, stating the “specifics remain confidential”. At the time, Khelif said the ruling meant having “characteristics that mean I can’t box with women”, but said she was the victim of a “big conspiracy” regarding the disqualification. She initially appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport but the appeal was terminated since Khelif couldn’t pay the procedural costs. After the appeal, Khelif organised her own independent tests in order to clear her name and return to boxing.

          Alright back to my own words here. So the article goes on to say that in July of this year, the IBA said Khelif failed the test, but would not release the specifics about why exactly. The IOC said the ruling was “arbitrary” and “without due process”. That is the background that sets the stage for what happened when the Italian quit this year at the Olympics and everyone subsequently lost their shit.

          Here’s the Wikipedia article, though feel free to check out other reputable sites for more detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imane_Khelif?wprov=sfla1

    • LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      Where are you getting this info? It was an Italian boxer named Angela Carini that started these allegations after 1 punch: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/08/02/sport/who-is-imane-khelif-olympic-boxer-intl

      Carini apologized Friday for her treatment of Khelif. “I’m sorry for my opponent,” she told Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport. “If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”

      "It wasn’t something I intended to do,” Carini said. “Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke,” she said.

      Her complaint was then taken up by transphobic organizations around the world, including Russian ones: https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/40797618/algeria-imane-khelif-wins-olympic-gold-amid-gender-dispute

      • sudneo@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        3 months ago

        She didn’t start any allegation. You are spreading miainformation.

        The quote you cited is from days after, and she apologized for the case that was created, but she didn’t start any of it. Her interview after the match was 10 seconds…

      • sudneo@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        3 months ago

        She didn’t start any allegation. You are spreading miainformation.

        The quote you cited is from days after, and she apologized for the case that was created, but she didn’t start any of it. Her interview after the match was 10 seconds…

    • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      23
      arrow-down
      107
      ·
      3 months ago

      The claim is not that she was initially considered to be a man by the Algerian government and then changed her public identity to that of a woman, but rather that she has some sort of intersex condition that elevates her testosterone levels into the masculine range.

        • Ech@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          65
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          edit-2
          3 months ago

          Seriously. Phelps is pretty much genetically ideal for a swimmer, but nobody claimed it was “UnfAiR!!” when he swept the board multiple olympics in a row, garnering more gold medals than anyone in history, before or since.

          One female boxer looks a bit “too” muscular and the bigots are up in arms. Fucking assholes.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            31
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            3 months ago

            And Khelif lost plenty of bouts in her career, but somehow, those aren’t relevant because, “I know a man when I see one.”

          • njm1314@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            12
            ·
            3 months ago

            I actually encountered someone a couple of days ago herr on Lemmy that said it was unfair of Phelps to compete because he was too genetically superior. It was bizarre. Course it was on a thread about Phelps criticizing Chinese athletes who were doping so I imagine it was just a tankie trying his best.

            • LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              3
              ·
              edit-2
              3 months ago

              And yet Katie Ledecky beats Michael Phelps on long distance swims.

              And Simone Biles is arguably the greatest athlete of all time.

              • njm1314@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                3
                ·
                3 months ago

                She’s obviously the greatest American gymnast of all time. I don’t know if you can go much further than that. Larisa Latynina makes it rather hard to win the argument for greatest gymnast of all time let alone greatest Olympic athlete.

              • sudneo@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                3 months ago

                And yet Katie Ledecky beats Michael Phelps on long distance swims.

                She doesn’t. Phelps when he was 15 made a time 9 seconds slower than the record established during these Olympic games (although in 25m pool) by Ledecky in the 1500m. He, still at 15, swam 5 seconds faster than the 800m time Katie Ledecky just did in this Olympics (although in 25m pool), only 2 seconds slower than the record she established in 2016. See this.

                Despite Phelps being a completely different athlete, not training for it, it’s quite reasonable to assume that once he was not a teenager anymore he could easily beat Katie (especially since long distance swimming requires maturity and experience to dose energy etc.). I think this reinforces the obvious fact that men do have advantages, and I really don’t see the point of trying to deny it.

                If you want even more info, look at juniors (under 18) records:

                • for 1500m a 16 years old swam more than 30seconds faster than Ledecky’s record.
                • for 800m another 16 years old swam more than 20seconds faster than Ledecky’s record.
                  • sudneo@lemm.ee
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    0
                    ·
                    3 months ago

                    What do you mean source? I have literally posted you a page with the times and compared to the world records she established.

                    The only example your article shows where she swims faster is the table at the bottom. If you look closer, you will see that for the 800 and 1500 freestyle, the times are exactly the ones in the link I shared. These times compare the world records she did, with a time Phelps did when he was 15 in 2001! The only difference with what I shared is that they took the short course time for the 800, while I used as a reference the long course. The other which is lower is the 400m freestyle. I didn’t quote this, but this is from the same competition in 2001, still when Phelps was 15! None of these competitions are what Phelps actually swam in his professional career, and how does it make sense to compare times in your peak athletic age (usually mid-20s) vs one-time races from when Phelps was in Junior category?

                    If you open the link I shared, you will see that he literally has 1 entry for 1500m, 800m and 400m, all from FINA Swimming World Cup 2000-2001, which is probably before he even specialized. Everything above 400m in swimming is considered long distance, and he is a sprinter instead.

                    The article you cite is making a point, which is the relative superiority of Katie Ledecky compared to peers, which is fair. When it then talks about swimming speed it turns into complete garbage, because it takes garbage data. I have genuinely no idea what are you trying to prove, I have showed you with numbers that Katie Ledecky’s records are tens of seconds behind even what Juniors do in men’s category, once you take athletes that practice the same discipline (long distance swimmers).

                    I hope this is enough source for you…

        • bassomitron@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          3 months ago

          Was it him or Lance Armstrong that ended up getting caught doping? Pretty sure it was the latter, but also recall Phelps getting accused of something. If could’ve even been something irrelevant like marijuana.

          Agree with your point, though.

        • sudneo@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          10
          arrow-down
          6
          ·
          3 months ago

          This is honestly an argument that I find very weak. I mean absolutely there are plenty of genetic advantages in general in sport. The problem is that not all sports have categories to isolate competitions for certain parameters. Swimming does not, so you could argue that is unfair by default, but that’s what it is right now. Fighting sports generally do have categories, both gender and weight.

          If we leave alone gender, if someone had some condition (let’s imagine something that doesn’t exist) that would result in having muscle mass common for a 80Kg, but in a 70Kg body, that person would probably have an unfair advantage in the 70Kg category because weight is a proxy for muscle mass as well.

          The only reasonable argument here is that the boxer, even if she has some genetic condition, still tested within the limits for female boxers. That is pretty much it, which means that whatever condition she has (if any), it’s not considered an advantage in the female category according to current standards.

        • LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          edit-2
          3 months ago

          What’s interesting is Katie Ledecky can beat him on long distance swims, if we go by their times. So how much of an advantage is gender in many sports at this level? And let’s look at disability - Usain Bolt had/has scoliosis, Ledecky has POTS, and many other athletes have “disabling” conditions. So why would intersex get a special category that isn’t allowed? It’s just transphobia.

          • sudneo@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            3 months ago

            Looking at the other comments, you are clearly not here to discuss, but I will make a good faith attempt and play devil’s advocate.

            The difference between intersex and other conditions you mentioned is that it blurs the lines of a specific set of parameters that are specifically used to create categories between sports. Men and women are not fighting each other for more than anagraphic reasons (I hope we can all agree on this), and if a condition invalidates that distinction (I.e. gives some advantages that men have over a women), then it breaks the boundary of such categories in a similar way as it would be having someone from a heavier category fight in a lighter one (BTW, this is routinely done by having athletes go in terrible dehydration regimes).

            Now this has nothing to do with this specific case, as there is no any objective proof for any of this, nor that she is intersex nor that she does have any advantage, but it’s purely a way to frame the answer to the question “what’s the difference between having scoliosis and being intersex”.

            • LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              3 months ago

              The thing is, other hormones can give advantages too. That people put so much stock into testosterone alone is bad science. That intersex conditions that involve testosterone are so hated is transphobia. Women should be in their neat little boxes and men in theirs and any anatomy that changes that is taboo and should be banned. Like where should an intersex fighter compete? If this woman was intersex and had LOCAH or PCOS or other conditions, should she not be allowed in any division of Olympics?

              Why don’t we have testosterone classes instead of (or in addition to) weight classes, if it matters so much? All athletes with the same level of testosterone can compete, just like athletes that weigh the same compete against each other. Why dont we organize it that way instead? Isn’t that more exact and fair?

              • sudneo@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                3 months ago

                I didn’t mention testosterone at all. I am not a specialist and I mostly don’t care about the details. I specifically talked in functional terms: if whatever condition gives you some advantages that men have, then it breaks the categories that are established. In this way, that condition would be different from -say- having huge feet like Phelps, even if they give you an advantage, because there are no categories based on foot size in swimming.

                Everything else is an interesting hypothetical discussion, and maybe one day categories will be based on more parameters. Fact is, today they are like this, rough and using proxies such as gender and weight to make fights that are more-or-less fair.

                • LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  0
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  3 months ago

                  Well, everyone else here is specifically talking about testosterone. That’s the “problematic” chemical. It’s relevant because it’s a normal endogenous chemical we make and some women naturally make more. It can help with more muscle mass and bone density. That it’s testosterone is entirely relevant.

                  That’s like speaking on Gaza and saying “it doesn’t matter where it is.” Like yes it absolutely matters. The context and specifics matter when discussing complicated topics.

                  All athletes that beat other athletes have a presumed physical advantage. A physical advantage isn’t an issue. It’s testosterone that’s the issue according to the people bitching about it.

                  • sudneo@lemm.ee
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    0
                    ·
                    3 months ago

                    A physical advantage isn’t an issue. It’s testosterone that’s the issue according to the people bitching about it.

                    No, it’s a physical advantages that derive from a condition that renders certain parameters (whatever they are) similar to stronger categories (in this case, men).

                    If it’s just testosterone or a combination of hormones and other things it doesn’t matter in the perspective of the discussion I was trying to have (which answered your question, by the way)…

                    So why would intersex get a special category that isn’t allowed?

      • snooggums@midwest.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        31
        arrow-down
        7
        ·
        3 months ago

        She is a woman who was born a woman and happens to have high testosterone for a woman, just like some people are taller than others. She just happens to be at one end of the testosterone spectrum.

        Just because you want baseless rumors to be true doesn’t make them true.

      • realitista@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        24
        arrow-down
        9
        ·
        3 months ago

        There seems to be little credible hard evidence on either side, so anyone claiming to know the real truth here is just talking out of their ass.

        • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          14
          arrow-down
          45
          ·
          3 months ago

          That’s the point I was originally trying to make. This article is written as if the question has been conclusively answered, but it hasn’t been.

      • SeaJ@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        15
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        3 months ago

        Her testosterone treated within the allowed range.

      • Gerudo@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        3 months ago

        The genetic issue she has is in 1in 600 people. Not exactly rare