Bulgarian Olympic boxer Svetlana Staneva appeared to add fuel to the gender eligibility firestorm on Sunday after a loss to Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting in the women’s 57-kilogram division.
Staneva lost to Lin via unanimous decision. Lin will move to the semifinals and is guaranteed at least a bronze medal in the Paris Olympics.
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The Taiwanese boxer has been at the center of a gender eligibility controversy. The International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified Lin from the 2023 world championships. The IBA president said at the time Lin tested positive for “XY chromosomes.” The IBA has defended its decision, saying Lin was among the boxers who had an unfair advantage.
With controversy swirling, Staneva appeared to add to it with a gesture following the loss. Staneva was seen pointing to herself and making an “X” with her fingers. Olympic fans suggested Staneva was signaling a double “X” to show she had XX chromosomes and signifying she’s a woman.
The Daily Mail and other social media users caught Staneva’s gesture.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has defended Lin’s and Algerian Imane Khelif’s participation in the women’s boxing event. IOC president Thomas Bach said the scrutiny around their gender eligibility is paramount to “hate speech.”
“We will not take part in a politically motivated… cultural war,” Bach said as he tried to tamp down on the scrutiny.
“What is going on in this context in the social media with all this hate speech, with this aggression and abuse, and fueled by this agenda, is totally unacceptable.”
Bach maintained that both Khelif and Lin were women.
“We have two boxers who are born as women, who have been raised as women, who have a passport as a woman and have competed for many years as women,” he said. “Some want to own a definition of who is a woman.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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