World Boxing, the governing body for Olympic-style boxing, said on Aug. 20 that it will require sex testing for all fighters who want to compete in women’s bouts at its world championships next month.
“This policy will commence on 20 August 2025 and replaces all other sex eligibility rules,” the body said.
Last year, Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting won gold medals at the Paris Olympics.
Both athletes had previously failed recognized tests in 2023, which the International Boxing Association (IBA) said disqualified them from fighting in the 2023 World Championships women’s competition.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) in June 2023 stripped the IBA of recognition as the governing body for boxing at the Olympics.
The pair were subsequently allowed to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics under the IOC’s eligibility rules used in previous Olympics.
World Boxing in May sent Khelif’s national team, the Algerian Boxing Federation, a letter informing them that their gold medalist would need to submit to a mandatory sex test before she could compete in the Eindhoven Box Cup in June. Khelif ended up not participating in the event. The Paris Olympics competition was the first major international competition Khelif had won.
The new policy is now being implemented ahead of the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, Sept. 4–14, World Boxing said.
“World Boxing respects the dignity of all individuals and is keen to ensure it is as inclusive as possible, yet in a combat sport like boxing, we have a duty of care to deliver safety and competitiveness fairness which are the key principles that have guided the development and creation of this policy,” World Boxing President Boris Van Der Vorst said in an Aug. 20 statement.
“It has been a long and detailed process, but it was vital that we examined all of the medical, legal and sporting issues raised by this issue and I am confident that in introducing testing to certify the eligibility of an athlete to compete as a male or female, the new policy on ‘Sex Age and Weight’ will deliver sporting integrity and protect the safety of all participants.”
As for why the announcement was only about the women’s division, Van der Vorst said, “We recognise that the issues relating to eligibility in boxing are more pronounced in the women’s events which is why we have made the decision to implement the policy in the female category first, where it will apply for the forthcoming World Boxing Championships and this was communicated to all of our member National Federations some time ago, to enable them to begin the process of testing.”
The governing body’s “Sex Eligibility” policy document says that athletes in the male category will be required to provide certified test results for all World Boxing competitions from Jan. 1, 2026.
The genetic test will be used to determine the presence or absence of the SRY gene, a gene on the Y chromosome that encodes for a protein that triggers the development of testes in most mammals, resulting in the male biological sex.
Some individuals have mutations in the SRY gene that can cause “differences in sex development” (DSD) or even reversal in sexual development. World Boxing said that an appeals process has been outlined for athletes who return male chromosomal material in their initial screening.
The chromosome screening is most commonly done using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on saliva from a mouth swab. Testing is to be conducted by each country’s national federation, World Boxing said, and they will be responsible for submitting the results to the international sports body.
Falsified certification can result in sanctions against the athlete or their national federation.
Chromosome testing was a common requirement of Olympic athletes in the 20th century, but was abandoned in the 1990s due to ambiguities presented by individuals with DSD. Many sports have tried to switch to hormone testing to determine an athlete’s biological sex. This presented another challenge related to some females’ naturally high level of the testosterone hormone generally associated with males.
Earlier this year, World Athletics became the first Olympic governing body to reintroduce chromosome testing, requiring athletes to undergo the test at least once in their career. Track and field athletes have been informed of a Sept. 1 deadline for submitting to a sex test ahead of their world championships.
Founded only recently in April 2023 in response to controversy facing the IBA, which previously governed the sport, World Boxing has been provisionally recognised by the International Olympic Committee and will oversee Olympic qualifications for the Los Angeles 2028 (LA28) Summer Olympics
The last two Olympic boxing tournaments were run by a task force from the IOC under previous rules of sex eligibility.
In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for an end to men’s participation in women’s sports.
“My administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes, we’re just not going to let it happen,” he said at the time.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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