In London, only three of ten weight categories were included for women: 51kg flyweight , 60kg lightweight and 75kg middleweight. In the same games, ten weight categories were included for male boxers. Things started to change after Rio, with the Tokyo games including five weight categories for women and eight categories for men. In Paris, men compete in seven weight categories and women in six. The suggestion was met with resistance from women boxers globally, and while the issue remained undecided as late as January , in the spring of it was finally announced that women boxers would be allowed to choose between competing in a skirt or in shorts.
She won a silver medal in the World Championship and a gold medal in the African Championship. In the Tokyo Olympic Games she reached the quarterfinals. Her amateur record stands at 53 fights 41 wins and 9 losses at the time of writing. In recent news, Khelif has become a victim of widespread misinformation and unfounded allegations regarding her gender.
The IBA cited her failure to meet gender eligibility tests , but has not specified the nature of these tests, sparking rumours that Khelif is transgender and biologically male.
Read more: Misinformation, abuse and injustice: breaking down the Olympic boxing firestorm. The situation escalated after Khelif won her opening Olympic fight in 46 seconds against Italian Angela Carini. This victory led to an increase in social media abuse directed at Khelif. Although Carini later apologised to Khelif for her behaviour, the controversy was exacerbated when the IBA announced that Carini would receive prize money equivalent to that of gold medallists.
The Italian Boxing Federation has since stated that it will not accept this money. Read more: Caster Semenya: the legal and ethical issues that should concern us all. Several of the gender tests have since been proven medically inaccurate and ethically flawed. Testosterone testing is commonly used in gender testing today. Even if their bodies naturally produce more testosterone compared to other women athletes.
