Boxer Blessing Oraekwe Misses World Championships After Gender Test Deadline
Manchester, England – Nigerian boxer Blessing Oraekwe was left “really upset” after being barred from competing in the 2024 World Boxing Championships due to missing the deadline for new mandatory genetic sex testing. Oraekwe expressed her disappointment, stating, “When I came here I didn’t think it would turn out like this. It’s been a year, almost, that we’ve been preparing for the World Championships. And learning that the day before, it’s not easy.”
the tests were introduced by World boxing, the sport’s newly recognized international governing federation, to ensure safety and fairness in the women’s competition. Mike McAtee, World Boxing’s acting secretary general, emphasized the importance of the policy, saying, “Boxing is a sport that you have to follow the rules. One of the biggest things is to protect boxers from themselves, and make sure that we have health and safety.” McAtee added, “We gave plenty of notice, but again we’re sympathetic to any boxer, coach, federation that prepared, and for whatever reason they weren’t able to participate.”
World Boxing has not disclosed whether any athletes have failed the tests.
The situation echoes previous controversies surrounding gender eligibility in boxing. Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to challenge World Boxing’s introduction of the genetic sex test. Khelif,along with Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting,were previously disqualified from the 2023 World Championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA) after allegedly failing gender eligibility tests. Neither Khelif nor Lin are competing in the current championships.
both athletes competed at the 2024 paris Olympics,where they won gold medals after the International olympic Committee (IOC) permitted their participation based on passport gender identification.
The introduction of these tests comes amid a significant restructuring of boxing governance. The IBA was stripped of its powers for failing to implement reforms, and the IOC oversaw governance of boxing at the Paris Olympics before granting provisional recognition to World Boxing in February. World Boxing has stated it will review the testing process to improve support for members facing challenges accessing testing in their home countries.
