The reality behind the Olympic women's boxing controversy

The Front Page

The 2024 Olympics has seen plenty of sporting highs as well as heartbreak for competitors around the world.

But no competition has sparked more debate and controversy than the woman’s boxing.

The inclusion of Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting has sparked a firestorm, after they were both banned from International Boxing Association competitions last year, citing negative gender tests.

The issue has blown up during the Olympics after Italy’s Angela Carini called off her match against Khelif after only a few seconds, prompting outrage from a diverse list of politicians and celebrities, including Donald Trump, JK Rowling, Elon Musk, Logan Paul, and our own Winston Peters and Israel Adesanya.

But as new information has shone light on the complexities of the case, it’s once again ignited a debate around women in sport.

With both boxers now guaranteed medals at the Olympics, today on The Front Page, we’re joined by University of Waikato professor of sociology in sport and gender, Holly Thorpe, to discuss the facts behind the outrage.

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