As gender row engulfs Olympic boxing, what is testosterone?

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s swift defeat of her Italian opponent on the Paris Olympics on Thursday has sparked a row after she was disqualified from a earlier competitors over reportedly excessive ranges of testosterone.

Figures comparable to far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shortly condemned that Khelif was allowed to compete on the Video games.

Because the controversy threatened to overshadow the sixth day of the Olympics, listed here are some info about testosterone.

What’s testosterone?

Testosterone is a intercourse hormone produced by each women and men. Nevertheless males produce as much as 20 occasions extra testosterone—primarily within the testicles.

Ladies make far much less, within the ovaries and adrenal glands.

A standard stage of testosterone for males is estimated to be 10 to 35 nanomoles per liter in blood, based on the US Mount Sinai hospital.

For girls, it’s between 0.5 to 2.4 nmol per liter.

Testosterone ranges can even differ broadly by age and time of yr.

When individuals naturally produce an extra of intercourse hormones comparable to testosterone, it’s known as hyperandrogenism.

The situation impacts an estimated 5 p.c of ladies, with round 70 p.c of instances attributable to polycystic ovary syndrome, analysis has discovered.

Signs embody zits, physique hair progress and scalp hair loss.

How does this have an effect on sport?

Testosterone can promote bone and muscle mass—intentionally boosting ranges is a typical type of doping and is banned.

Analysis has advised that folks with an extra of testosterone are over-represented in elite sport.

However simply how a lot the hormone boosts efficiency stays a matter of debate.

The Worldwide Olympic Committee’s head of human rights Magali Martowicz mentioned in 2021 that there was no “scientific consensus” on how testosterone impacts athletic efficiency.

On the 2021 Tokyo Video games, New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard turned the primary brazenly transgender lady to participate in an Olympic occasion.

To qualify, she needed to maintain her testosterone ranges beneath 10 nmol per liter for not less than 12 months.

Despite assembly the necessities, Hubbard’s participation was broadly criticized.

On the finish of 2021, the IOC gave up on establishing uniform tips for this sort of participation standards, leaving it to the separate worldwide sport federations.

What in regards to the boxers?

Khelif was disqualified throughout the boxing world championships final yr after “elevated ranges of testosterone failed to satisfy the eligibility standards,” based on the IOC’s web site.

Khelif and boxer Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting had been each disqualified from the New Delhi occasion by the Worldwide Boxing Affiliation (IBA) beneath Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev.

Nevertheless due to governance, monetary and moral points on the IBA, it was successfully expelled from the Olympic motion final yr. The IOC has taken duty for organizing the boxing on the Paris Video games.

In a press release on Wednesday, the IBA mentioned the 2 boxers “didn’t bear a testosterone examination however had been topic to a separate and acknowledged check, whereby the specifics stay confidential”.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams mentioned everybody participating within the ladies’s occasion was “complying with competitors eligibility guidelines”.

“These athletes have competed many occasions earlier than for a few years, they have not simply arrived, they competed in Tokyo,” he mentioned.

“Testosterone isn’t an ideal check. Many ladies can have testosterone which is in what could be known as ‘male ranges’ and nonetheless be ladies, nonetheless compete as ladies,” he mentioned.

“This concept that immediately you do one check for testosterone and that types the whole lot out—not the case, I am afraid,” he added.

“I hope we’re all agreed that we’re not calling for individuals to return to the unhealthy previous days of intercourse testing, which was a horrible factor to do.”

© 2024 AFP