OLYMPIC GAMES
Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting named flag bearers at Paris 2024 closing ceremony
The two boxers, who were the subject of controversy during the Olympic Games, will carry the flags of their respective countries at the closing ceremony of the Games.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, boxing gold medallists at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, have been named as flag bearers for this evening’s closing ceremony by their respective national Olympic committees.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games closing ceremony will take place at Stade de France on Sunday, August 11, at 3 p.m. ET, noon PT.
Controversy at the Paris 2024 Games
Khelif, the Olympic champion in the 66kg category, will carry the Algerian flag alongside 800m athlete Djamel Sedjati on Sunday evening at the closing ceremony of Paris 2024. While Lin will lead the Taiwanese team, known as Chinese Taipei at the Games, at the Stade de France alongside 200m sprinter Yang Chun-han.
Both fighters have been at the centre of the Games’ debate over Khelif and Lin’s right to compete after both were disqualified from the 2023 world championships for failing gender checks, which included blood tests and other IBA tests but not testosterone tests.
However, the International Boxing Association (IBA) is not recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is responsible for boxing competition at the Games. The IBA argues that the two athletes are competing in the female category because their passports state that they were born women. They also argued that they have competed against other women for years, including in Tokyo three years ago.