Athletes Who Failed Gender Test Can Fight Women: Lin Yu-Ting, Imane Khelif Boxing Gold Odds Still Pay Nice

Two boxers who were banned from the Women's World Championship last year for being deemed biologically male are fighting at the Paris Olympics.

A duo from Algeria and Chinese Taipei were boxing this week and their odds to win gold have seen a seismic shift.

Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu‑ting of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) both start their Olympic campaigns this week: Khelif met, and beat, the Italian Angela Carini in the 66kg ­cate­gory. Carini quit just 45 minutes in.

Lin is expected to face either Marcelat Sakobi or Sitora Turdibekova in the 57kg cate­gory on Friday.

The controversy has attracted the attention of the media, as well as the betting community.

BetOnline even offered very high odds on the Khelif fight Thursday.  She was at -2500 to be more precise.

The International Boxing Association, whose president, Umar Kremlev, told the Russian news agency, Tass, that DNA tests had “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded from the sports events”.

The IBA told the Guardian it had made the decision “following a comprehensive review and was intended to uphold the fairness and integrity of the competition”.

The IBA is now banned from running the Olympic boxing tournament in Paris because of long-running questions surrounding governance issues and a series of judging scandals. As such, the IOC’s Paris 2024 Boxing Unit, with its more relaxed rules, is now overseeing boxing in the Paris Olympics.

The IOC said in a statement regarding both of them competing in Paris: “All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations in accordance with rules 1.4 and 3.1 of the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit [PBU].

“The PBU endeavoured to restrict amendments to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games.”

BetOnline.ag is reporting a seismic shift in its Gold Medal odds toward Lin Yu-Ting from Taiwan (featherweight, 57kg) and Imane Khelif from Algeria (welterweight, 66kg).

Wow that fight did not go schlong.

Congrats to those who bet Ms Khelif at -2500 https://t.co/gfLHoXhmPX

— Dave Mason (@DaveMasonBOL) August 1, 2024

"We've seen non-stop bets come in on these two boxers since this story caught fire," Sportsbook Manager Adam Burns said. "Customers who have never bet on boxing ever before with us are unloading on these markets to back Khelif and Lin, and the one-sided wagering has forced us to drastically move the numbers."

BetOnline initially gave Khelif 7/2 odds (+350) to capture the gold in Paris, but over the past 72 hours she has moved to the overwhelming, odds-on favorite.

Lin was always favored for the gold in her division, but her odds have been cut in half since opening at 2/1.

Algeria‘s biological man Imane Khelif has beat Italy’s Angela Carini after only 45 sec in 66 kg boxing preliminaries at the Olympics Thursday.  BetOnline had Khelif as a massive favorite.

Here are the current Gold Medal odds:

Women's 57kg Gold Medal Champion              

Lin Yu-Ting (TPE)                       1/1

Svetlana Staneva (BUL)              7/2

Nasthy Petecio (PHI)                 6/1

Amina Zidani (FRA)                    8/1

Karina Ibragimova (KAZ)            8/1

Alyssa Mendoza (USA)               14/1

Xu Zichun (CHN)                        16/1

Jucielen Romeu (BRA)               25/1

Esra Yildiz (TUR)                        33/1

Julia Szeremeta (POL)                33/1

Michaela Walsh (IRE)                 33/1

Ashleyann Lozada (PUR)            40/1

Tina Rahimi (AUS)                     66/1

Sitora Turdibekova (UZB)           80/1

Khouloud Hlimi (TUN)               100/1

Valeria Arboleda (COL)              100/1

Women's 57kg Gold Medal Champion              

Imane Khelif (ALG)                    1/3

Busenaz Sumerneli (TUR)           2/1

Yang Liu (CHN)                          12/1

Morelle McCane (USA)              20/1

Janjaem Suwannapheng (THA)   28/1

Barbara Maria Dos Santos (BRA) 33/1

Chen Nien-Chin (TPE)                33/1

Navbakhor Khamidova (UZB)     33/1

Oshin Derieuw (BEL)                  33/1

Angela Carini (ITA)                    40/1

Aneta Rygielska (POL)                50/1

Alcinda Panguana (MOZ)           66/1

Brigitte Mbabi (COD)                 66/1

Luca Hamori (HUN)                   66/1

Marissa Williamson (AUS)          150/1

Ivanusa Moreira (CPV)               200/1

Current odds can be found on this page.

Female boxing icon Claressa Shields, who was a gold medalist at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, also reacted angrily to the news.

Shields posted on X: 'So they got men fighting against women in the Olympics @Olympics boxing! I wouldn't have stood for no stuff like that! That is so heartbreaking to the women who have to have their dreams ruined by a man. Sad asf!'

By  Nagesh Rath Born in Punjab, India, Nagesh has been writing for the Gambling911.com website since 2019.  He mostly covers the more controversial stories impacting the world of gambling, specializing in poker. Nagesh's favorite sport is cricket.  This beat reporter operates from our Miami Beach base where he resides with his wonderful wife Ravjeer and three daughters.