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Prominent LGBTQI advocate and tennis legend slams woke Olympics for allowing biological men to compete in boxing: 'The DNA says male'
A prominent LGBTQI advocate and 18-time grand slam winner has criticized the Olympics for allowing four transgender athletes to compete in women's divisions as their 'DNA says male.'
Martina Navratilova, 67, took to X Wednesday to call out the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for having 'several athletes (boxers and soccer players) competing as women.'
'[The IOC] is ok with it,' she wrote on the platform. 'They were not born female. The DNA says male. This is not anti-trans at all - it's only trying to keep women's category female. Get it now?'
[perform-sport]Navratilova is a member of the LBGT+ community herself and is married to former fashion model Julia Lemigova, whom she wed in 2014.
The former Czech-American tennis player was referring to boxers Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu‑ting of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) and soccer players Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji, both of Zambia.
Martina Navratilova, 67, took to X Wednesday to call out the Committee for having 'several athletes (boxers and soccer players) competing as women'
'The DNA says male. This is not anti-trans at all - it's only trying to keep women's category female,' the Czech-American athlete, who is married to a woman, wrote
All four of them failed gender tests at world competitions for having too much testosterone.
However, the Olympics does not require gender testing and hasn't since 1999, reports NewsNation.
IOC Spokesperson Mark Adams said at a press conference Tuesday the competitors are participating in the women's category as they are considered female 'in their passports' and they are 'complying with the competition eligibility rules.'
'Obviously, I am not going to comment on individuals,' he said. 'That’s really invidious and unfair.'
The IOC said the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU) used the 'Tokyo 2020 boxing rules (enforced at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the related qualifying tournaments) as a based to develop its regulations.'
'Those rules descended from the Rio 2016 rules,' it said in a statement. 'The PBU endeavored to restrict amendments to minimize the impact on athletes’ preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games.'
However, it acknowledges that the athletes failed gender eligibility tests last year.
The athletes the former Czech-American tennis player are referring to is boxers Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu‑ting of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)
Khelif had been disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) just hours before her fight with Yang Liu at the 2023 world championships in India due to 'elevated levels of testosterone,' which failed to meet 'eligibility criteria.'
The boxer claimed her disqualification was a 'conspiracy.'
'People have conspired against Algeria so that its flag doesn’t get raised and it doesn’t win the gold medal,' she said, according to The Guardian.
Lin was also stripped of her bronze medal after 'failing to meet eligibility requirements based on the results of a biochemical test,' the IOC acknowledged.
The IOC did not comment on the soccer players.
On Thursday, Khelif will fight Italy's Angela Carini at the North Paris Arena. Lin has a first-round bye and will face Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova on Friday.
Lin qualified for Paris by winning the Asian Games title last October and Khelif won an African qualifying tournament last September. Both qualification tournaments were held under the IOC's authority months after the fighters' exclusion from the IBA-run worlds.
She was also referring to soccer players Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji, both of Zambia
Their presence in Paris drew criticism this week, with former men’s featherweight world champion Barry McGuigan posting on social media 'it's shocking that they were actually allowed to get this far.'
The 28-year-old Lin won her first world title in 2018 and was a youth world champion in 2013, according to an IBA profile. In 2021, Khelif was a quarterfinalist at the Tokyo Olympics, losing to eventual champion Kellie Harrington of Ireland.
'These athletes have competed many times before for many years. They haven't just suddenly arrived,' Adams said.
The IOC has also had backlash on Banda and Kundananji's participation too.
Outspoken Aussie soccer commentator Lucy Zelic has lashed out at the International Olympic Committee for allowing two Zambian women's football stars to play in Paris after she claimed they were previously banned from the field for failing gender tests.
In July 2022, Banda was omitted from competing at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) after reportedly failing a gender eligibility test that put her in breach of rules set by football's global governing body, FIFA.
She had been cleared to play in the Tokyo Olympics the previous year.
All four of them failed gender tests at world competitions for having too much testosterone. However, the Olympics does not require gender testing and hasn't since 1999. IT goes off the gender listed on one's passport
Kundananji was also reported to have been barred from WAFCON because her levels of testosterone were above those allowed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
However, the Telegraph newspaper investigated and found that both players were omitted from the tournament after refusing to take hormone suppression treatments when their testosterone levels exceeded what was allowed by the CAF.
The publication reported that the players never took the gender eligibility tests.
Two women were even seen outside the Eiffel Tower during the Games holding a sign that said 'save women's sport,' a photo on X showed.
Since the Tokyo Olympics, sports bodies including World Aquatics, World Athletics and the International Cycling Union have updated their gender rules. They now ban athletes who went through male puberty from competing in women’s events.
The track body last year also tightened rules on athletes with differences in sex development. They include two-time Olympic 800-meter champion Caster Semenya, who has not run in that event since 2019.
The IOC gave those governing bodies guidance in 2021 without imposing rules, in what Adams said Tuesday is an 'incredibly complex' subject for experts in each Olympic sport to assess.