Kellie Maloney has offered her verdict on the Olympics gender eligibility row after public backlash over controversial athletes Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting.
Both Khelif and Lin were judged last year to have failed gender eligibility tests at the world championships. Khelif, 25, has male XY chromosomes but is not transgender. Both fighters are female in their passports.
Khelif came under scrutiny following her 46-second win against Italy’s Angela Carini, where Carini was forced to pull out of the fight during the first round.
Kellie, 71, who announce she was transitioning in 2014, was previously known as Frank and enjoyed a successful career as a famous boxing promoter.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Monday, Kellie admitted she ‘doesn’t see what the problem is’ because the competitors were born female.
Kellie did say that she thinks sports people who are born male should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports or be allowed to enter women’s spaces until they have undergone gender reassignment surgery.
Kellie Maloney has offered her verdict on the Olympics gender eligibility row after public backlash over controversial athletes Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting
Both Khelif (pictured) and Lin were judged last year to have failed gender eligibility tests at the world championships. Khelif, 25, has male XY chromosomes but is not transgender. Both fighters are female in their passports
When asked by host Kate Garraway what she makes of the media storm, she said: ‘They are biological women, so I don’t know what the problem is.
‘They boxed in the Olympics four years ago. They were beaten by an Irish fighter and there was not one word about it.
‘They go into the World Championships, which are run by a Russian organisation that the Olympics don’t recognise and they claim they have failed a gender test.
‘But there’s no proof out there, they put no evidence of the test they did. So in Algeria you can’t be gay, you can’t be trans you get 10 years in prison. So I feel sorry for them, their lives have been destroyed.’
Co-host Ed Balls, added: ‘The International Boxing Association [IBA] say they’ve tested these women – but nobody has made these results public.’
KM: It’s unfortunate, it’s the same as the South African runner [Caster Semenya], her life has been destroyed since her story came out. She’s been stopped from competing. I believe she has got an alcoholic problem now, she was a great runner.
‘You can’t help how you’re born. I can’t help being born trans, I certainly didn’t want to transition, I had a great life as Frank Maloney, but I had to do it for my own sanity.’
Kellie, 71, who announce she was transitioning in 2014, was previously known as Frank and enjoyed a successful career as a famous boxing promoter
Khelif came under scrutiny following her 46-second win against Italy’s Angela Carini
During the conversation Kellie also discussed the access transgender women should have to female spaces.
After Ed said: ‘You’re Kellie, you’ve transitioned, but you’re also a dad’, she replied: ‘Yes I’ll always be a dad. I’m not a biological woman, I don’t try and kid anyone.
‘I’m a medically constructed woman. I’m fundamentally different from a lot of other transgender people. Because I do believe the transgender umbrella is too big.
‘I have daughters and I speak to them and I do agree that women should feel safe in their space, women’s sports should be for women. I don’t think trans women who have gone through puberty should be able to take part in women’s sport. And I don’t think if you haven’t gone through the full surgery and lost a certain part of their body they should be allowed in female spaces.’
Kellie is set to release a documentary about her life called Knockout Blonde.
Speaking about he impending release, she said: ‘The documentary was in the works for about three years, I had several offers from different companies but went with the Americans because they gave me a bit of a free hand in the production.
‘I wanted it to be all nuts and bolts and show that it isn’t just about my journey, it’s about the people in my life and how they were upset and I might have destroyed their lives. It was very emotional.
‘I wanted it to be very educational. For people to see that transexual women are just normal human beings and they just want to lead a normal life.’
Kate asked her: ‘I remember interviewing you for a long time, as Frank but when I see you now as Kelly it feels like a different person. Do you feel like a different person?’
Kellie said: ‘No, not really. Because I’m not from that community where Frank is dead, Frank is not dead. Frank is a part of who I am. I’ve taken the good sides of Frank and mixed him with Kellie. To become a better person.’
On Sunday evening, Khelif gave a bombshell sit-down interview for the first time since pulverizing female athlete Carini.
She issued a defiant warning to her critics while slamming bullying following her controversial win at the Paris Olympics.
The Algerian athlete tore into the scrutiny of her gender as ‘harmful to human dignity’ during the interview in Arabic to SNTV.
She said: ‘I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects.
‘It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying.’
The victories of Khelif and fellow boxer Lin Yu-ting, of Taiwan, have become one of the biggest stories of the Paris Games.
Both have clinched their first Olympic medals despite being scrutinised over their gender.
Khelif acknowledged the pressure and pain of enduring this ordeal while competing far from home in the most important event of her athletic career.
‘I am in contact with my family two days a week. I hope that they weren’t affected deeply,’ she said. ‘They are worried about me. God willing, this crisis will culminate in a gold medal, and that would be the best response.’
The vitriol stems from claims by the International Boxing Association, which has been permanently banned from the Olympics, that both Khelif and Lin failed unspecified eligibility tests for the women’s competition at last year’s world championships.
Khelif declined to answer when asked whether she had undergone tests other than doping tests, saying she didn’t want to talk about it.
