How the X became a 'symbol of resistance' at Paris Olypmics (2024)

The gender row that's become the most controversial issue of the Paris 2024 Olympics has given rise to a 'symbol of resistance', after two defeated female boxers made an X gesture with their fingers.

Taiwanese boxerLin Yu-Ting, 28, who was disqualified from last year's women's world championships having failed a gender tests, beatTurkey's Esra Yildiz Kahraman on Wednesday night.

Her defeated opponent was seen making an 'X' gesture with her fingers in the centre of the ring after the victorious boxer had departed.

Asked later why she had done this, she said: 'No comment'. However, it was the same gesture made by Bulgaria's Svetlana Staneva who was beaten by Yu-Ting in the quarter-final of the womens' 57kg category earlier this week.

It's been interpreted as a nod to the fact that male chromosomes are designated by an X and a Y, while females have two X's, and this morningLin Yuwei of Chinaalso made the X gesture with her arms ahead of the women's 100m hurdlesrepechage round.

Although there has not been a similar gender row linked to the event, social media users have widely interpreted it as a show of support for the boxers, with one writing 'amazing solidarity'.

Of course, the political situation between China and Taiwan is so fevered that there are fears it could lead to World War III.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, and fears have grown in recent years that President Xi is planning an invasion in the coming years, in the face of increasingly hostile rhetoric and simulated blockades of the island.

There is no suggestion that Lin's gesture had anything to do with the ever present tensions between the two nations.

Some Olympics fans are now calling for more people to get behind the defeated boxers.

'These brave women are speaking out,' one wrote. 'We must have their backs.'

A fellow commenter described the gesture as a 'symbol of resistance' spreading through the Olympics.

After last night's fight,Yildizappeared to be showing respect to Yu-Tin by touching gloves and even holding the ring rope open for heras she climbed out to have a compulsory medical assessment.

But married Yildiz was also seen making the 'X' gesture with her fingers in the centre of the ring after the victorious boxer had departed.

Yu-Ting also left the Roland Garros arena without commenting on the incident, but thanked her opponent and fans back in her country.

Earlier this week, Yu-Ting beat Bulgaria's Svetlana Staneva in the quarter-final of the womens' 57kg category.

Pictures showed Staneva making two 'Xs with her index fingers in an apparent remark about her opponent's sex.

Two women boxers who were accused of being male who could now win golds.

Yu-Tingjoins Algeria's Imane Khelif, 25, in Olympic boxing finals after both had to endure a storm of opposition to their involvement in the Paris Olympics.

Both were disqualified from last year's women's world championships having both failed key gender tests.

Yu-Ting, who stands at 5ft 9in, was registered female at birth, as was Khelif who has a passport as a female.

Olympic chiefs have defended the involvement in Paris 2024 of both Khelif and Yu-Ting who began boxing at the age of 13.

The boxer underwent additional tests by Taiwan's sports administrators before the Olympics which confirmed her eligibility after last year's disqualification.

Yu-Ting's Olympic officials called the accusations discriminatory and declared them a deliberate attempt to undermine the boxer's mental state.

The IOC said it made its eligibility decisions on boxers based on the gender-related rules that applied at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Several sports have updated their gender rules over the past three years, including World Aquatics, World Athletics and the International Cycling Union. The track body also last year tightened rules on athletes with differences in sex development.

The IOC is in charge of boxing in Paris because it has revoked the Olympic status of the International Boxing Association following years of governance problems, a lack of financial transparency and many perceived instances of corruption in judging and refereeing.

The IBA is controlled by its president Umar Kremlev, who is Russian. He brought in Russian state-owned Gazprom as its primary sponsor and moved much of the IBA's operations to Russia.

However Olympic officials say the matter regarding the two boxers is a 'minefield' and that no forensic and unquestionable scientific evidence has been provided to prove both athletes were not women.

IOC chief Bach said: 'We are talking about women's boxing. We have two boxers who are born as a woman, who were raised as women, who have passport as women, who have competed for many years as women. This is the clear definition of a woman.'

But the IBA genetic tests showed that Khelif and Yu-Ting have male XY chromosomes in their DNA, but neither are transgender.

Celebrities such as JK Rowling, British Olympian swimmer Sharron Davies and double Olympic gold medal-winning ex-boxer Nicola Adams have spoken out against their involvement in women's sport.

On Wednesday, JK Rowling doubled down on her opposition to the boxers who have failed the gender tests.

She wrote on X: 'Commentators pretending critics of the IOC's reliance on documents rather than sex testing think Khelif is trans are straw-manning.

'I don't claim Khelif is trans. My objection, and that of many others, is to male violence against women becoming an Olympic sport.'

Davies said: 'This is shocking. The IOC are a bloody disgrace. In effect legalising beating up females. This must stop!!! What the hell's the matter with them?'.

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss asked: 'When will this madness stop? Men cannot become women. Why is the British Government not objecting to this?'

But Olympics chiefs have slammed what they described as an online 'hate' campaign against the boxers.

Khelif's quarter-final opponent Anna Luca Hamori of Hungry had posted a picture of a 'beauty and a beast' in the run up to their bout and said she did not mind fighting 'a man or a woman.'

The picture later disappeared from her social media profile.

The Algerian Olympic and Sports Committee filed an official complaint with the IOC to protest the online harassment of Khelif that amounts to ' a serious violation of sports ethics and the Olympic Charter by one of the participants in the boxing tournament at the Paris Olympics, according to a statement that was posted on the committee's Facebook page.

The statement did not name the boxer who has allegedly posted disparaging comments of the Algerian, but warned that the IOC 'has issued a final warning to delete every post that concerns our heroine Iman Khalif.'

It added: ' We reserve the right to prosecute everyone who participated in the heinous campaign against our heroine Imane Khelif.'