Algerian boxer Iman Khalif’s Olympic bout against Angela Carini ended in just 46 seconds when the Italian fighter withdrew from the match. She was seen crying in the middle of the ring. However, the result of the match sparked a lot of anger on social media, with debates over Khalif’s gender and whether she should be allowed to compete in the women’s category. Khalif, a biological woman, has lost on several occasions, including at the Tokyo Olympics
This has left many people asking what gender testing actually is. The process of identifying whether a person is male or female is known as gender testing. It is often applied to find out the sex of your unborn baby. In the sports circuit, gender testing is done to find out the sex of an athlete as there have been several cases of men competing as women and taking unfair advantage of it.
How does gender testing work?
According to Healthline, gender testing is evaluated by specialists in internal medicine, gynecology, endocrinology, and psychology. People who opt for gender verification undergo blood tests that determine their chromosomes, sex hormones, and genes. If the results obtained from the blood sample show that the person has a Y chromosome, it indicates that they are male. If the Y chromosome is absent, it indicates that the person is female.
According to Healthline, a somewhat less invasive test is known as cell-free DNA screening, in which a patient gives a blood sample to a local lab or doctor’s office. Home DNA kits are also available. These tests work the same as lab tests, with the only exception being that they look for male chromosomes rather than checking the person’s blood.
History of Gender Testing
According to Topend Sports, the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) introduced the first gender verification tests in sports in 1996. There was concern that men with physical advantages in strength and muscle mass were cheating by posing as women in female-oriented competitions, which led to the implementation of gender testing. Although the IAAF abandoned it in 1991, female athletes were tested using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at the Olympic Games in Albertville and Barcelona.