Imane Khelif’s Olympic controversy: The Impossible dilemma

By Jaime Schultz, Penn State Algerian boxer Imane Khelif celebrates her victory in the women’s boxing 66-kilogram quarterfinal match at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 3, 2024. Richard Pelham/Getty Images In their preliminary 2024 Olympic women’s boxing match, Algeria’s Imane Khelif delivered a painful blow to the face of Italy’s Angela Carini, who abandoned the fight after 46 seconds. “I’ve never been hit with such a powerful punch,” Carini told reporters after the match. The incident might have been relatively uncontroversial were it not for what had happened during the 2023 International Boxing Association (IBA) Women’s World Championships. During that tournament – two days before its conclusion – officials had disqualified Khelif, who competes in the 66-kilogram (146-pound) weight class, and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who fights at 57 kilograms (126 pounds). The IBA issued an official statement asserting that the women “did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors.” So how, some might wonder, were Khelif and Lin allowed to fight in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris? What “necessary eligibility criteria” did the IBA use to make the judgment? And do those criteria give Khelif and Lin competitive...