The International Olympic Committee has decided that two boxers who were disqualified from the World Championships last year because they failed the sex eligibility test are allowed to fight in the Olympics in the women’s category. The boxers are Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, and they start their Olympic runs this week. Mark Adams, a spokesman for the IOC, said: “They are following along with the competition eligibility rules. They are women in their passports.” 

The IOC seems to be a stickler for rules, not fairness and safety. Of all the sports that ought to bar biological males from competing against women, it seems that boxing is the one. Boxing is a combat sport, where the risk of debilitating injury is high even in a fair fight, and research shows that the average punching power of a male is over 160% higher than that of a female.