TV presenter Laura Woods has revealed she received “numerous death threats” online after commenting on an article about the eligibility of Olympic champion boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting.
Khelif from Algeria and Lin from Chinese Taipei 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 women’s division.
Both were disqualified from last year’s World Championships after reportedly failing gender eligibility tests but won gold in Paris after being cleared to compete by the International Olympic Committee.
On Thursday, football presenter Woods commented “great article” in reply to a post by the Telegraph’s Oliver Brown, who had written on the subject.
Woods, who works for TNT Sport and was part of ITV Sport’s coverage of Euro 2024 in Germany, said she had received dozens of hate-filled messages.
“Since I replied to this article I’ve had numerous death threats to myself and my unborn child,” Woods posted on X.
“Questions on my own gender (I’m pregnant so guess that clears that one up) calls for my employers to sack me, threats to my home.
“When there are discrepancies with test results – which could impact the safety of another human being, in an environment that above all else should be fair – questions are quite rightly going to be asked.
“The answers are still unclear, otherwise this topic would be closed.”
Khelif and Lin were disqualified by the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA) during last year’s World Championships.
The IBA said Khelif and Lin “failed to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition, as set and laid out in the IBA regulations”.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which ran the boxing events at the Olympics, allowed them to compete.
The controversy has cast doubt on the tests and led to strong criticism of the International Boxing Association (IBA), with claims that Khelif and Lin were “born and raised as women.”
President Thomas Bach stated last week that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) “does not like the uncertainty” surrounding the issue but acknowledged there is no “scientifically solid system” to definitively “identify men and women.”
Khelif expressed that she felt victimized by “bullying” and claimed that the IBA “hate me, and I really don’t know why.”
Following her Olympic gold victory, the 25-year-old has filed a lawsuit over alleged cyberbullying during the Paris Games. The lawsuit reportedly names author JK Rowling and X owner Elon Musk.