Thomas Bach criticises ‘fake news campaign from Russia’Two boxers competed in Paris under cloud of controversy
A gender row involving two female boxers at the Paris 2024 Olympics was the result of a Russian fake news campaign and had little to do with reality, the International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach, said on Saturday.
Bach, who is stepping down in June after 12 years in the biggest job in world sports, said the IOC had needed to fight off many similar campaigns before and after the Paris Games.
The boxing competition in the Paris was run by the IOC after it stripped the International Boxing Association (IBA) of recognition last year over its failure to implement reforms on governance and finance. But the IBA, run by the Russian businessman Umar Kremlev with close links to the Kremlin, accused the IOC during the Games of allowing two female athletes, who had been banned by the IBA following a chromosome test a year earlier, to compete.
A bitter war of words ensued between the two organisations and dominated the headlines during the Games. “I would not consider this [Paris Games gender controversy] a real crisis because all this discussion is based on a fake news campaign coming from Russia,” Bach said at the southern Greek seaside resort where his successor will be elected on Thursday. “This was part of the many, many fake news campaigns we had to face from Russia before Paris and after Paris.”
Several such campaigns happened before Paris, including what the IOC said at the time were repeated hacking attempts. Bach said the dispute over the boxers would have been a non-issue were it not for the IBA, given the two boxers had competed for years, including at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, with no problems.
“It [the dispute] has nothing to do with the reality. These two female focuses were born as women, they were raised as women, they have been competing as women, they have been winning and losing as every other person.” The two boxers, Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, won gold medals in their weight classes.
The IOC does not have a universal rule on the participation of transgender athletes or athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD), with each federation drawing up its own regulations. Russian athletes competed as neutrals in Paris after the Russian Olympic Committee was suspended for conducting Olympic elections in Ukrainian territories occupied following the Russian invasion in 2022.
Bach also said he had no concerns about the preparation of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, calling Donald Trump a strong supporter and promoter of the project. “Let the organising committee … continue to work with President Trump and his administration because they have established very good relations,” Bach said when asked what his advice to his successor would be regarding the LA Olympics and Trump. “The IOC should have confidence in their American partners and friends, and confidence that President Trump from the beginning was a strong supporter and promoter of the Olympic Games.”
Bach added that boxing, which had not been included in the initial LA 2028 programme due to the problems with the IBA, could soon get positive news regarding its inclusion. In February, the IOC provisionally recognised World Boxing as the new global body for the sport, paving the way for the sport’s inclusion in Los Angeles.
“I hope [the provisional recognition of World Boxing] will mean in the short term a very positive signal,” Bach said. “I hope very much during these days here in Greece [during the IOC session] we can come to a decision.”
About Author
More Stories
European football: Bayern extend lead despite Hollerbach’s late sting
Strand Larsen’s double at Southampton moves Wolves nine points clear of drop
Nottingham Forest beat Ipswich to maintain Champions League push