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Fitness guru Jillian Michaels has 'simple' solution to end Olympic boxing gender controversy
By Ryan Gaydos
Published August 16, 2024
Fitness guru Jillian Michaels opened up on the controversy that took over women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics concerning two fighters who were previously deemed to have XY chromosomes.
Michaels appeared on OutKick’s "Tomi Lahren is Fearless" and said there was a simple solution to end the controversy around Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting.
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Gold medalist Imane Khelif of Algeria poses on the podium during the medal ceremony for the women's 66kg final boxing category during the Olympic Games in Paris on August 9, 2024. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)
"Let’s remove the transgender component of this because these two athletes are not transgender, they are saying that they are female. You’ve got two independent tests done by two labs that are separate from the International Boxing Association that found a Y chromosome. That’s male," Michaels told Lahren.
"So, now then, why did they not contest these findings? Twice! A simple cheek swab will solve the problem, will answer the question. They didn’t contest it, and in fact Imane started and withdrew the contest. … Now the Olympics is like ‘well the passport says female and they’ve been able to compete before.’
"So, how about this? How about you do a cheek swab? Really simple, and then you negate the entire conversation."
Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting reacts after beating Poland's Julia Szeremeta in the women's 57kg final boxing match during the Paris Olympic Games on August 10, 2024. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The International Boxing Association disqualified both fighters from the world championships in 2023 and the issue appeared again ahead and through the Summer Games. Both Khelif and Lin won gold in their divisions and received support from the International Olympic Committee, which defended their eligibility.
French prosecutors opened an investigation into alleged online harassment of Khelif after the boxer’s lawyer, Nabil Boubi, filed a legal complaint last week with a special unit in the Paris prosecutor’s office that combats online hate speech.
Jillian Michaels (Paul Archuleta/Getty Images)
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Khelif was targeted by a "misogynist, racist and sexist campaign," Boudi said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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