Title: Upcoming World Boxing Championships: New Sex Testing Requirements for Women Competitors
Boxers aiming to compete in the women’s division at the highly anticipated World Boxing Championships in Liverpool next month will be required to undergo sex determination tests. The international governing body, World Boxing, has announced that competitors must complete a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test or a comparable genetic screening to confirm their sex at birth. This policy will take effect before the championships scheduled for early September, as revealed in an official statement on Wednesday.
The testing process is designed to detect the presence or absence of Y chromosome genetic material, which serves as an indicator of biological sex. All boxers, including the notable Algerian athlete Imane Khelif, 26, who clinched an Olympic gold medal in women’s welterweight boxing at the Paris 2024 Olympics, will not be permitted to participate until they complete this test. Khelif’s previous encounter with a failed gender eligibility test—administered by another boxing organization—sparked significant controversy during the Olympics, despite her assertion of being born a woman and her extensive experience in women’s amateur boxing over the past decade.
Boris Van Der Vorst, the president of World Boxing, emphasized the organization’s commitment to respecting the dignity of all individuals while ensuring fairness and safety in the sport. "In a combative sport like boxing, we have a duty to uphold principles of safety and competitive fairness, which have guided the creation of this policy," he stated.
Khelif notably chose to withdraw from a World Boxing tournament in the Netherlands earlier this June, shortly after the announcement regarding the new sex testing protocols. The ongoing debate surrounding these requirements has reignited discussions about athletes with differences in sexual development (DSD), which encompass a range of conditions where genes, hormones, and reproductive organs may develop atypically.
World Boxing has clarified that athletes with DSD who exhibit male androgenization will only be eligible to compete in the men’s category. However, the organization is also committed to providing additional analysis and evaluation for athletes with Y chromosome genetic material who wish to compete in the women’s categories, along with an appeals process for those affected.
National federations will be responsible for administering these tests and reporting results to World Boxing. While chromosome testing was once standard in Olympic sports, it fell out of favor in the 1990s due to numerous complexities. Many sports transitioned to hormone testing, which poses its own challenges regarding the eligibility of women with naturally elevated testosterone levels. Earlier this year, World Athletics became the first Olympic sport to reintroduce chromosome testing.
In the context of ongoing discussions about gender in sports, former U.S. President Donald Trump has voiced a stance asserting that only two sexes exist—male and female—and has called for the exclusion of transgender women from women’s events ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Stay informed about the latest developments in boxing and gender policies in sports as the World Boxing Championships approach.
