The International Boxing Association (IBA) had banned Khelif and Lin from the women’s world championships last year, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended their participation in Paris, citing their female designation at birth and in their passports. The IBA’s tests, which contributed to its loss of governing status, were deemed unreliable by the IOC. 

Davies, a silver medalist in the 1980 Olympics, expressed concern that the boxers' defeated opponents might be too intimidated to contest the results. Speaking on a panel for Sex Matters, a campaign group focused on women’s rights, Davies stated, “You’d like to think that there ought to be (a route to legal challenge), from a duty of care perspective.

“It is the job of any organisation, whether that is a school or a sports club or a governing body, or, in fact, a world governing body like the IOC, to have a responsibility to safety. At the moment they are definitely negligent in this area when it comes to female athletes. They are not considering the damage, the potential damage, of putting a male athlete in with a female athlete. So if I was one of those female athletes, I would be trying to pursue this for sure.

“The problem we’ve got is that these female athletes are very young. They are very intimidated. They are very silenced. And the IOC puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the government and the national associations to make their athletes sign documentation which stops them, which takes away their voices. And that is also a problem that we have.”

Khelif and Lin made headlines when Italian boxer Angela Carini withdrew from her bout against Khelif after just 46 seconds, claiming she had never been hit so hard. In recent bouts, Lin’s opponents have made an X with their fingers, seemingly protesting the IBA’s alleged finding that Lin, and Khelif, have male XY chromosomes.

The IBA has not published the results of gender tests on Khelif and Lin due to non-disclosure clauses. Chris Roberts, the IBA Secretary General, stated that the athletes have a “duty” to the sport to be transparent and urged them to undergo additional testing and disclose the results. He said, “They owe it to their opponents and their community to be upfront and to be honest about all of this. They owe that to their opponents. And, you know, I call for them to have another test, if that’s the case.”

Davies criticised the IOC for failing women throughout her career and continuing to do so. She remarked, “People have to look back at the history of the IOC and their horrendous history of looking after female athletes.” Davies spoke out, recalling how the IOC permitted the East German state to administer testosterone to young female athletes for 20 years.

She said, “The reason I speak out is, for 20 years, they allowed the East German state to dope young women, 11, 12, 13 years old, full of testosterone. Every single person in the track, in the swimming pool, at the rowing venue, knew exactly what was going on. The IOC did nothing.

“For 20 years they allowed female athletes to be cheated out of their medals and they allowed these young East German girls to be poisoned, to the state that all of them have health issues, and many of them have died. The history of the IOC defending female athletes is atrocious.”

In response, an IOC spokesperson stated, “All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations.”

The spokesperson also noted, “The guidelines on athlete expression for Paris 2024... provide a framework for athletes and other Games participants to express their views during the Games and are fully in line with the guidelines implemented for Tokyo 2020 and the Winter Games Beijing 2022, which had provided new and increased opportunities to athletes.”