Bait and Switch

Spanning the Globe bringing you the constant variety of sports.  The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. The human drama of athletic competition. This is ABC’s Wide World of Sports.

That intro came into use in 1978. It’s inspiration: A ski jumper by the name of Vinko Bogataj from the former Yugoslavia, described as a youngster who fell on his first jump. His second became the iconic clip showing the risk athletes take in sports at the national or world level. The replay of his fall before leaving the jump resulting in a crash from the jump ramp into the awaiting slope and careening into the snow-covered mountain and on-lookers below.

As athletes reach the pinnacle of their sport, the rest of the world watches in awe of the strength, focus and dedication they each display. The Olympics is a gathering of the absolute best of the best to compete for the coveted gold, silver, and bronze medals. It is not a mere four years of training that has gone into this. For many, it is a lifetime of sacrifice and even isolation. They devote themselves to their sport training every day and give time to little else.

Today, by luck of the draw, Italy’s Angela Carini found herself in a controversial boxing match against Algerian Imane Khelif. Just 46 seconds and one stout punch later, Carini collapsed to her knees and decided not to continue. Tearfully, she left the ring refusing to shake the hand of her opponent.

Algeria’s Imane Khelif was disqualified hours before her gold-medal bout at the women’s World Championships in New Delhi last year after she failed to meet the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) eligibility criteria, which prevent athletes with male XY chromosomes competing in women’s events. However, the IBA was stripped of its recognition by the IOC last year over governance and finance issues, with the Olympic body running the boxing competition in Paris itself, and it allowed Khelif to participate. (Independent, 2024) 

Khelif is not a transgender athlete. She was born female but has a disorder of sex development (DSD) that results in XY chromosomes and testosterone levels similar to those of male athletes. (Times of India, 2024)

Sports have been continuously sex-segregated for over 100 years, across disciplines where male sex-linked advantages affect competitive opportunities for females. Congress passed Title IX in 1972 and approved its implementing regulations governing competitive sport in educational institutions in 1975, explicitly permitting girls and women’s sport to exist separate from boys’ and men’s sport. Law and sports policy makers understood that from the onset of male puberty, male bodies develop such that they are, as a group, faster, stronger, and more powerful than female bodies as a group. The performance gap between male and female athletes that emerges from that point typically ranges from 8-20% depending on the sport and event, and “up to 50% where explosive power and complex movement skills are pivotal.” (WomesSportsPolicy, 2024)

Testosterone is prohibited in sport at all times. Transgender athletes who require testosterone during the transitioning process (when transitioning from female to male) must apply for and be granted a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) in advance of their treatment. (Usada, 2024)

Because Khelif is not transgender, no requirement for TUE was required, despite her abundance of testosterone which clearly tips the scale regarding equity between genders.

“I think one of the most obvious differences, but the one that contributes most to the differences between men and women, is the hormonal spectrum,” says Dr. Karli. “Men and women have totally different hormonal profiles, which dictate and, in some respects, control why a woman’s a woman and why a man’s a man. In terms of physical differences, men tend to be a little bit thicker, muscle-wise, than women because of higher testosterone levels.”

When it comes to exercise and exercise physiology, Dr. Karli says that both men and women’s bodies respond to the same stimuli, but they may respond in different ways. When men weight train, they tend to build muscle more easily than women. It’s not that women can’t build muscles like men, but because of the lower testosterone and higher levels of estrogen in women’s bodies, women just won’t bulk up like men. (Vail Health, 2024)

Houston, we have a problem!

In this modern world of fluctuating gender identity and acceptance, the question still remains: If one identifies as a woman, does that mean she is equal to a woman and thus able to compete against someone hormonally a woman since birth?

If performance enhancing drugs are illegal in sports, then the advantage one has with an abundance of testosterone in her system (regardless of how it got there) should be a decisive factor in separating those athletes from those who do not have that same level in their system. In the interest of safety and fairness, additional categories should be introduced to accommodate those athletes who have transitioned, and the breakdown of those categories should be weighed in and agreed to by members of the medical community as well as the athletic community.

What should not happen is that the IOC and the rest of the world look the other way in the interest of demonstrating “inclusion.”  In short – does someone have to be killed before you acknowledge that this is a mistake?

To Angela Carini: I am truly heartsick for you to have been placed in the crosshairs of this dilemma. You are a worthy opponent, and you deserve better than to be treated as a bait dog.

References:

Independent, retrieved from the world wide web on August 1, 2024 from https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/imane-khelif-boxing-angela-carini-lin-yuting-b2589623.html

Times of India, retrieved from the world wide web on August 1, 2024 from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/paris-olympics-2024/watch-opponent-refuses-to-shake-hands-with-biological-male-imane-khelif-after-46-second-loss/articleshow/112204392.cms

Usada.org, retrieved from the world wide web on August 1, 2024 from https://www.usada.org/spirit-of-sport/transgender-athletes/#:~:text=Testosterone%20is%20prohibited%20in%20sport,in%20advance%20of%20their%20treatment.

Vail Health, retrieved from the world wide web on August 1, 2024 from https://www.vailhealth.org/news/are-men-and-women-created-equal#:~:text=In%20terms%20of%20physical%20differences,may%20respond%20in%20different%20ways.

WomensSportsPolicy, retrieved from the world wide web on August 1, 2024 from https://womenssportspolicy.org/the-issue/#:~:text=Sports%20have%20been%20continuously%20sex,affect%20competitive%20opportunities%20for%20females.