Turkish boxer Esra Yıldız Kahraman expressed her indignation about the disqualified boxers, who deprived her of advancing in the boxing tournament at the Olympic Games.

Yıldız claimed a bronze medal at Paris 2024, where she was stopped in the semi-finals at 57kg by Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting on 7 August 2024. The latter boxer was disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) in March 2023 for not meeting eligibility criteria, however, she was allowed to compete at the Olympics despite IBA’s correspondence to the IOC revealing the issue with eligibility.

Not only was Lin Yu-ting victorious against Esra Yıldız, but she also won the Olympic gold.

In an interview with Evrim Akın, Esra Yıldız shared her disappointment with the Paris Games outcome.

‘Now, when you look at these athletes [Lin Yu-ting and Imane Khelif of Algeria at 66kg], they have been disqualified from two latest IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships, and it’s apparent from their appearance and performance in the ring that there is an imbalance. Competing against them is not on an equal footing, and none of us feel it’s a fair competition. Despite their previous disqualifications, they were crowned champions in Paris, seemingly to draw attention to this controversy, yet it’s the rest of us who face defeat. This way our rights are violated, our efforts feel wasted. It’s unjust that athletes disqualified in IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships were competing in the Paris Olympics, this is not fair at all, not at all,’ Yıldız claimed.

Earlier UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls Ms Reem Alsalem claimed that mandatory gender testing must be introduced to sports events.

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Media contacts:

Elena Sobol, Head of Communications and PR, International Boxing Association: elena.sobol@iba.sport

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