Controversial Olympic boxers being bet heavily

Two boxers who were banned from the Women’s World Championship last year for being deemed biologically male are fighting at the Paris Olympics.

The controversy has attracted the attention of the media, as well as the betting community.

BetOnline.ag is reporting a seismic shift in its Gold Medal odds toward Lin Yu-Ting from Taiwan (featherweight, 57kg) and Imane Khelif from Algeria (welterweight, 66kg).

“We’ve seen non-stop bets come in on these two boxers since this story caught fire,” Sportsbook Manager Adam Burns said. “Customers who have never bet on boxing ever before with us are unloading on these markets to back Khelif and Lin, and the one-sided wagering has forced us to drastically move the numbers.”

BetOnline initially gave Khelif 7/2 odds (+350) to capture the gold in Paris, but over the past 48 hours she has moved to the overwhelming, odds-on favorite.

Lin was always favored for the gold in her division, but her odds have been cut in half since opening at 2/1.

Here are the current Gold Medal odds:

Women’s 57kg Gold Medal Champion              

Lin Yu-Ting (TPE)                       1/1

Svetlana Staneva (BUL)              7/2

Nasthy Petecio (PHI)                 6/1

Amina Zidani (FRA)                    8/1

Karina Ibragimova (KAZ)            8/1

Alyssa Mendoza (USA)               14/1

Xu Zichun (CHN)                        16/1

Jucielen Romeu (BRA)               25/1

Esra Yildiz (TUR)                        33/1

Julia Szeremeta (POL)                33/1

Michaela Walsh (IRE)                 33/1

Ashleyann Lozada (PUR)            40/1

Tina Rahimi (AUS)                     66/1

Sitora Turdibekova (UZB)           80/1

Khouloud Hlimi (TUN)               100/1

Valeria Arboleda (COL)              100/1

Women’s 57kg Gold Medal Champion              

Imane Khelif (ALG)                    1/3

Busenaz Sumerneli (TUR)           2/1

Yang Liu (CHN)                          12/1

Morelle McCane (USA)              20/1

Janjaem Suwannapheng (THA)   28/1

Barbara Maria Dos Santos (BRA) 33/1

Chen Nien-Chin (TPE)                33/1

Navbakhor Khamidova (UZB)     33/1

Oshin Derieuw (BEL)                  33/1

Angela Carini (ITA)                    40/1

Aneta Rygielska (POL)                50/1

Alcinda Panguana (MOZ)           66/1

Brigitte Mbabi (COD)                 66/1

Luca Hamori (HUN)                   66/1

Marissa Williamson (AUS)          150/1

Ivanusa Moreira (CPV)               200/1

Current odds can be found on this page HERE.

Female boxing icon Claressa Shields, who was a gold medalist at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, also reacted angrily to the news.

Shields posted on X: ‘So they got men fighting against women in the Olympics @Olympics boxing! I wouldn’t have stood for no stuff like that! That is so heartbreaking to the women who have to have their dreams ruined by a man. Sad asf!’

Khelif is scheduled to face Italy’s Angela Carini on Thursday, while Lin is set to compete against either Marcelat Sakobi or Sitora Turdibekova on Friday.