The IOC staged a terrible provocation at the 2024 Olympics in Paris by allowing two athletes who failed the gender test to participate in the women’s boxing tournament. The competitors don’t like this, they try to protest, but in the end they suffer.

Thus, after her defeat, Italian Angela Carini refused to shake hands with Iman Khelif from Algeria, and Carini later had to apologize. Hungarian Luka Hamori spoke unflatteringly about her opponent with high testosterone levels on social media, and was simply hounded. Now Bulgarian Svetlana Staneva has humiliated another athlete with a failed gender test.

Will she be forced to ask for forgiveness too?

A real woman

At the Olympic women’s boxing tournament, two athletes who failed the gender test are racing for medals and have already secured bronze. Iman Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yuting of Taiwan were suspended by the International Boxing Federation (IBA) during the 2023 World Championships. However, the IOC brushed aside the results of the gender test, and now the athletes whose hormones are fine are suffering.

Khelif won in the quarterfinals in the category up to 66 kg. Lin Yuting will also reach at least the bronze medal. The representative of Taiwan, competing in the category up to 57 kg, defeated Svetlana Staneva in the quarterfinals with a score of 5:0. There are no questions about the victory, but they still exist about the appropriateness of Lin Yuting’s performance at the Games.

While the IOC aggressively defends dubious participants in the women’s tournament, the rivals do not want to put up with what is happening and express their disagreement with the situation in various ways. After her defeat, Staneva refused to shake Lin Yuting’s hand, and then, to the applause of the audience, raised her hands up and crossed her fingers. What the girl from Bulgaria meant is anyone’s guess, but perhaps this is a reference to sex chromosomes and a hint that she was the only real woman in this fight.

Svetlana Staneva, Lin Yuting / Photo: © Richard Pelham / Freelancer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

“We live in strange times”

It is not yet known whether Svetlana will be hounded after this action. Perhaps she will have to apologize and justify herself for her not very tolerant behavior. After all, even the famous British writer Joan Rowling was once again smashed by ill-wishers after trying to stand up for her rival Khelif.

However, one should not think that the opinion of the aggressive minority is so popular abroad. In the same UK, where Rowling is being slammed on social networks, the behavior of the Bulgarian athlete is supported by many ordinary sports fans. And, judging by the positive reaction to the comments, fans overfed with questions of tolerance are well aware of the injustice.

— This is what we have come to at the 2024 Olympics — it is considered “disrespectful” for a woman to call herself a woman. I don’t think the Olympics will be able to recover from this.

— The IOC has acquired a bad reputation. Real boxers should boycott this event and not risk their careers. What’s the point?

— Men’s final with a male champion in women’s boxing. We live in strange times.

– I sympathize with all the athletes involved in this, because it should not have come to this. The blame here lies entirely with the IOC.

— It’s unfair to compete with someone who has elevated testosterone levels. It’s no different from competing with someone who takes the hormone illegally.

“If all the female boxers had united from the start and refused to fight until these two were eliminated from competition, they would have gotten their way.