World Boxing to introduce mandatory sex testing for all boxers - World Boxing
worldboxing.org
World Boxing will introduce mandatory sex testing, to determine the eligibility of male and female athletes that want to take part in its competitions. The introduction of mandatory testing will be part of a new policy on “Sex, Age and Weight” to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field […]

In light of plans to introduce this policy and the particular circumstances surrounding some boxers that competed at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, World Boxing has written to the Algerian Boxing Federation to inform it that Imane Khelif will not be allowed to participate in the female category at the Eindhoven Box Cup or any World Boxing event until Imane Khelif undergoes sex testing.

  • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.caEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    So this test probably won’t catch someone who is XY, but missing the SRY gene. I’m not sure if it will detect a mutated SRY gene, and I don’t pretend to be an expert. I also can’t be sure if thos test will catch someone who is XX with an SRY gene, which is also a thing, nor if it will catch XX/XY mosaicism. And those are the easy ones.

    The fact of the matter is, internationally competitive athletes are a group of 0.1% or less, and people with abnormal sex genes, let alone abnormal genes in general, fall into the 0.5% to 1% category. What do you think the overlap is in two groups of outliers?

    Edit: Extra reading. Note the 24 genetic variations (that we know of) that count as intersex.

    • SorteKanin@feddit.dkEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      What do you think the overlap is in two groups of outliers?

      Well, seeing as people with abnormal sex genes may have an advantage in competitive women’s sports, you would actually expect to see a significant amount of that “outlier” group in the group of top athletes, as there is a selection happening. You’re right that if you chose independently at random from people who are top athletes and people who have abnormal sex genes, the overlap would be incredibly small. But sports is not a random selection at all. At the top of sports, even the smallest advantage means the difference between winning and losing, so even small variations (like those caused by abnormal sex genes) may give significant advantages (perhaps even “unfair” advantages).

      • GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.caEnglish
        4·
        2 days ago

        And to that, I’ll reiterate my second paragraph previously.

        There are certainly issues with sport categories that are designed to be for something other than the elite in their field, but I don’t expect nuance from the same groups that banned a boxer because she wasn’t sufficiently attractive.