Bulgarian Olympic boxer Svetlana Staneva appeared to add fuel to the gender eligibility firestorm on Sunday after a loss to Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting in the women’s 57-kilogram division.
Staneva lost to Lin via unanimous decision. Lin will move to the semifinals and is guaranteed at least a bronze medal in the Paris Olympics.
The Taiwanese boxer has been at the center of a gender eligibility controversy. The International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified Lin from the 2023 world championships. The IBA president said at the time Lin tested positive for “XY chromosomes.” The IBA has defended its decision, saying Lin was among the boxers who had an unfair advantage.
With controversy swirling, Staneva appeared to add to it with a gesture following the loss. Staneva was seen pointing to herself and making an “X” with her fingers. Olympic fans suggested Staneva was signaling a double “X” to show she had XX chromosomes and signifying she’s a woman.
The Daily Mail and other social media users caught Staneva’s gesture.
Watch:
Staneva lo sabe,
las boxeadoras lo saben,
el COI lo sabe
y los espectadores también…#NonEGiusto #SaveWomenSports pic.twitter.com/jWOCO5gUAk— Feministes de Catalunya (@feministes_cat) August 4, 2024
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has defended Lin’s and Algerian Imane Khelif’s participation in the women’s boxing event. IOC president Thomas Bach said the scrutiny around their gender eligibility is paramount to “hate speech.”
“We will not take part in a politically motivated… cultural war,” Bach said as he tried to tamp down on the scrutiny.
“What is going on in this context in the social media with all this hate speech, with this aggression and abuse, and fueled by this agenda, is totally unacceptable.”
Bach maintained that both Khelif and Lin were women.
“We have two boxers who are born as women, who have been raised as women, who have a passport as a woman and have competed for many years as women,” he said. “Some want to own a definition of who is a woman.”
Caitlin Jenner has a Birth Certificate which lists her as a Female. She has a Driver’s License which lists her as a Female. She wears dresses. We call her, Her, She, Miss. That’s being polite. To be technical she is XY = Male !
Wearing a dress no more makes you a female than standing in your garage makes you a car.
IOC – 2024 Paris = Olympics of Filth & Hate
As long as these males/females have a penis they are still men and have no business beating up women and are permitted in female locker rooms??? Why aren’t they fighting against males? I get it, they are cowards. Why not have a club for transgender people? End of story. It’s time to stop watching the Olympics and their crazy rules.
Maybe its about time to just stop having the Olympics.
Or maybe have the he/she candidates fight a hungry Lion. Same gender of course.
Every day I like people less and my dog more.
Bull shit you bunch of sick mother Fucks. Only fights women because as most of these so called athletes cant win in their own gender, So they would rather beat up young girls. And as far as the Olympic goons they are nothing but a bunch of stupid pandering loonies. All should be removed and all competitors should complete only in their own gender, the one they were born as and will always be.If not they should not be competitors at all. Enough of this crap.