Presenter Woods received death threats after Olympics boxing comment
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Published
TV presenter Laura Woods has revealed she received ânumerous death threatsâ online after commenting on an article about the eligibility of Olympic champion boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting.
They each won gold in their respective weight divisions at Paris 2024 amid a heated public debate over whether they should be eligible to compete in the womenâs division.
Khelif from Algeria and Lin from Chinese Taipei were disqualified from last yearâs World Championships after reportedly failing gender eligibility tests.
Both won gold in Paris after being cleared to take part by the International Olympic Committee.
On Thursday, football presenter Woods commented âgreat articleâ in reply to a post by the Telegraphâs Oliver Brown,, external who had written on the subject.
Woods, who works for TNT Sport and was part of ITV Sportâs coverage of Euro 2024 in Germany, said she had received dozens of hate-filled messages.
âSince I replied to this article Iâve had numerous death threats to myself and my unborn child,â Woods posted on X, external.
âQuestions on my own gender (Iâm pregnant so guess that clears that one up) calls for my employers to sack me, threats to my home.
âWhen there are discrepancies with test results â which could impact the safety of another human being, in an environment that above all else should be fair â questions are quite rightly going to be asked.
âThe answers are still unclear, otherwise this topic would be closed.â
Khelif and Lin were disqualified by the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA) during last yearâs World Championships.
The IBA said Khelif and Lin âfailed to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the womenâs competition, as set and laid out in the IBA regulationsâ.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which ran the boxing events at the Olympics, allowed them to compete.
It raised doubts about the tests and strongly criticised the IBA, insisting Khelif and Lin were âborn and raised as womenâ.
President Thomas Bach said last week that the IOC âdoes not like the uncertaintyâ but suggested there is no âscientifically solid systemâ to âidentify men and womenâ.
Khelif said she had been a victim of âbullyingâ and that the IBA âhate me and I really donât know whyâ.
Since winning Olympic gold, the 25-year-old has filed a lawsuit over alleged cyberbullying during the Paris Games, which reportedly names author JK Rowling and X owner Elon Musk.
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