fiffled

My other comment details the evidence: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42664346

There are several lines of evidence which point towards Khelif being male:

- Karotype testing from two independent labs showing XY chromosomes, as reported by sports journalist Alan Abrahamson, who has seen the lab reports and covering letter that was received by the IOC from the IBA - he quotes from them in this article: https://www.3wiresports.com/articles/2024/8/5/fa9lt6ypbwx5su...

- Georges Cazorla, who was in Khelif's training team, revealing in interview that Khelif has a problem with chromosomes and hormones, and has been under testosterone suppression to bring levels into the female range: https://www.lepoint.fr/monde/2024-olympics-imane-khelif-was-...

- Extracts from a medical report leaked to French journalist Djaffer Ait Aoudia, which reveal that Khelif has the DSD 5-alpha reductase deficiency (5-ARD, same as Caster Semenya) which exists only in males: https://lecorrespondant.net/imane-khelif-ni-ovaires-ni-uteru...

There are other oddities too, like Khelif choosing to abandon a case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport after being deemed ineligible to compete in women's boxing events hosted by the IBA. Also, Rafael Lozano, the head of the Spanish national team, recalled that when the Algerians visited to train, Khelif was matched with a male boxer to spar, as the upper body strength and punching power was far too much for the female boxers.

All of this is consistent with Khelif competing at the Olympics in women's boxing, as they only asked for identity documentation and did not verify sex - unlike weight classes which were strictly controlled by weigh-ins.

> How about your trans people beating up women in boxing

You mean Imane Khelif? If so, you've been misinformed.

Khelif does not identify as trans, and described such accusations as "a big shame for my family, for the honor of my family, for the honor of Algeria, for the women of Algeria and especially the Arab world."

The evidence indicates that Khelif is a male with a disorder of sex development - not a male with a transgender identity.

Still a male pummelling female competitors though. Who is being excused in this through the spread of a considerable amount of misinformation, your earlier comment being an example of such.

No, just erroneously assumed to be female and issued with identity documents stating this.

Same as has happened previously with other male athletes in women's sports, such as Caster Semenya who also has 5-ARD and also competed in the Olympics, back in 2016 in the women's 800m track event, winning gold. The silver and bronze medals were taken by males too.

Khelif does not identify as trans, and described such accusations as "a big shame for my family, for the honor of my family, for the honor of Algeria, for the women of Algeria and especially the Arab world."

The available evidence indicates that Khelif is actually male: two blood tests from two independent labs revealing an XY karyotype, a member of Khelif's training team describing problems with hormones and chromosomes and that Khelif has been on medication to adjust testosterone to within the female range, and a leaked medical report which describes Khelif as having the male-specific disorder of sexual development 5-alpha reductase deficiency (5-ARD).

This implies that Khelif is not female but is male, and went through male puberty, therefore having the male physical advantage in sport caused by male sexual development.

Every piece of evidence revealed so far points towards Imane Khelif being male. Two blood tests from independent labs showing an XY karyotype, a member of Khelif's coaching team describing problems with chromosomes and hormones while also mentioning that Khelif has been on medication to adjust testosterone levels to bring this closer to the female range, and most recently, a leaked medical report showing that Khelif has a male-specific disorder of sexual development: 5-alpha reductase deficiency (5-ARD).

We can ascertain from all this that Khelif went through male puberty and has the male physical advantage in sport that is caused by male sexual development.

Interestingly this is the same DSD that Caster Semenya has. Semenya is another male athlete who competed in a women's category at the Olympics, for the 800 metres track event, and who also won gold.

Individuals with this condition are sometimes mistaken for female at birth due to internal testes and an underdeveloped penis. And are then issued identity documents erroneously stating that they are female. This is what happened with Semenya and almost certainly is the case with Khelif too.

Some underinformed people weren't cognisant of the exact details, and assumed because Khelif is a male competing in the women's division, that this implies Khelif has a transgender identity. When in fact, Khelif described accusations of this as "a big shame for my family, for the honor of my family, for the honor of Algeria, for the women of Algeria and especially the Arab world."

Nonetheless, the main reason that people opposed Khelif (and Lin) competing in women's boxing is precisely the same reason as to oppose transwomen competing in women's sports: because they are male.

So while for some Twitter users the exact details may have been wrong, the underlying principle was the same. That is, fairness and safety for female athletes.

All the evidence revealed so far indicates that Khelif is male. Regardless of the IBA's other issues, there are two blood tests from independent labs showing XY karyotype, and a member of Khelif's coaching team described problems with chromosomes and hormones such that Khelif has been on medication to adjust testosterone levels to bring this closer to the female range.

This implies that Khelif went through male puberty and has the male physical advantage in sport that is caused by male sexual development. Most likely, Khelif was assigned female at birth due to having a difference of sex development (DSD) conferring an external genital appearance that at first glance may seem female.

I don't know where this oft-repeated idea that Khelif has Swyer syndrome came from, but it's nonsensical. Swyer comes with bone defects due to hormone deficiency, and suffering from osteopenia and osteoporesis is not compatible with an elite athletic career, particularly not boxing. Anyone with Swyer would be getting fractures from all the punching and being punched. Nothing about Khelif's situation aligns with this.

However, there was previously in the Olympics a very similar situation with Caster Semenya, a male runner whose penis didn't develop properly due to having the DSD 5-ARD, and was therefore erroneously assumed to be female, and given identity documents to match. Semenya was eventually disqualified from track events due to having internal testes that produce male levels of testosterone and have done since puberty. Probably Khelif has the same or similar condition.

The actual issue was that this athlete, Imane Khelif, is male. And was competing in a women's boxing match, despite having previously been deemed ineligible by the International Boxing Association for this reason, after a karyotype test revealed XY chromosomes.

The problem is that women's boxing in the Olympics doesn't verify sex other than via identity documents such as passports. Even though the other categorical attribute - weight - is directly verified during competition.

As Khelif (and another male boxer, Lin) had a female passport, this permitted competition in the tournament despite the fact that it enabled a male to pummel female boxers, to an eventual unanimous victory.

Obviously, many people are against this, for the same reason as why mixed-sex boxing tournaments aren't considered acceptable, for reasons of fairness and safety.