Bulgarian Boxer Staneva’s ‘XX’ Sign After Losing To Lin Yu-Ting Escalates Olympic Gender Debate

Controversy surrounding gender eligibility in women’s boxing continues as Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting defeated Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva in a decisive fashion in the quarterfinal match of the women’s 57 kg category on Sunday (August 4).

After the bout, with a score of 5-0 in favor of the Asian athlete, Staneva looked at the crowd and signaled two X symbols with her index fingers. 

Her message is seemingly a direct allusion to the decision by the International Boxing Association (IBA) to disqualify both Lin Yu-Ting and Algeria’s Imane Khelif from the 2023 World Championships due to internal tests showing they possessed XY chromosomes.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the International Boxing Association (IBA) in 2019 and eventually withdrew its recognition in 2023 as a result of longstanding concerns about its governance and management. 

These included allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement, which led to a lack of confidence in the organization’s ability to oversee the sport effectively.

The IBA’s judging and refereeing standards in boxing had been controversial, particularly during the 2016 Rio Olympics, where there were numerous allegations of biased and unfair judging. 

Moreover, the IBA faced significant financial difficulties, including large debts. This financial instability was a major concern for the IOC, as it threatened the organization’s ability to function and support the sport at the Olympic level.

Bulgarian boxer Svetlana Staneva flashes a double ‘X’ sign to the crowd after her defeat by Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting amid gender eligibility controversy

Image credits: Richard Pelham/Getty

“We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024,”  IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said in an official statement on August 8.

In reference to Yu-Ting and Imane Khelif, a fellow boxer previously sanctioned by the IBA for failing the same gender tests, Adams said “[They] have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.”

He further explained: “There has been some confusion that somehow it’s a man fighting a woman. This is just not the case, scientifically. On that, there is consensus.”

Imane and Lin faced ruthless bullying, especially on social media, with misinformation spreading about their identities, over the past week.

False claims that Imane and Lin were transgender women with physical advantages were fuelled on Thursday (August 1), after Italy’s Angela Carini quit just 46 seconds into her round-of-16 bout with Imane.

With several notable figures using the fight to further controversy, the International Olympic Committee clarified that both Imane and Lin complied with entry requirements, were cisgender women, and condemned any misleading information harming the athletes.

As the match began, Yu-Ting and Staneva did not touch gloves and the animosity between them remained as both left the match without commenting

Image credits: Richard Pelham/Getty

The Taiwanese athlete has since confirmed to have shut down her social media accounts.

“I have received many messages of support from my country and from people in Paris. I thank them,” she told Daily Mail. “But I have not been able to read them because I have shut down my social media.

“I am going to keep going and going to the gold medal. I have won a bronze medal, but I want to win the gold.”

Mark Adams stood by the IOC’s decision and backed Yu-Ting and Khelif during a press conference, explaining that gender testing could lead to discrimination and a host of other problems in the future.

“I need hardly say if we start acting on suspicions against every athlete or whatever, then we go down a very bad route,” he said.

“There’s a whole range of reasons why we won’t deal with this. Partly confidentiality. Partly medical issues. Partly that there was no basis for the test in the first place. And partly data-sharing of this is also highly against the rules, international rules.”

The IBA refused to divulge the specifics of the tests done on both Khelif and Yu-Ting, but confirmed that they were not testosterone tests

Image credits: Olympic Games

“The athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential. This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors.” a statement delivered on July 31, 2024 reads.

Regardless of their decision, the IBA remains decertified after the IOC deemed it to have failed to address governance, finance and corruption concerns in 2019. 

The Olympic Committee formally stripped the Boxing Association of its status in 2023, officially expelling it from any Olympic matters, a decision later upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2024.

Umar Kremlev, the current director of the disgraced sports organization, has offered to cover the money otherwise won by both losing opponents of Khelif and Yu-Ting.

“I am not indifferent to such situations, and I can assure that we will protect each boxer. I do not understand why they kill women’s boxing. Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety,” he said in a statement on August 2, 2024.

Thomas Bach, the president of the IOC, remained stalwart on their decision to ban Kremlev’s organization, as the two institutions continue to be involved in legal disputes after the Court of Arbitration for Sports accepted an appeal by the IBA in April, 2024

A fourth female boxer is knocked out of the Olympics by a male.

A defiant Staneva signals the anger we all feel 💪

“I am XX. I am a woman”#paris2024#fairplayforwomen#SaveWomensSportspic.twitter.com/W6cs4pwRTo

— FairPlayForWomen (@fairplaywomen) August 4, 2024

“We highly value the sport of boxing. We have an extremely serious problem with IBA because of their governance,” he said in an internal meeting, according to the Associated Press.

As both athletes advanced to their next stages in their respective brackets, the Olympics reiterated their commitment to their continued participation and discredited any validity of the IBA’s previous ruling.

“It’s impossible to engage with those tests,” said Mark Adams in reference to the medical exams made by the IBA. “They are illegitimate and flawed, from conception to the way they’ve been made public.”

“The boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, and has a female passport. This is not a transgender case.”

Social media erupted as news of Staneva’s sign spread, with many supporting her while others were left frustrated and offended at what they perceived to be the spread of misinformation and prejudice towards Yu-Ting and Khelif

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