The official at the centre of the Olympic boxing gender row was one of Sir Keir Starmer’s best men at his wedding.
Mark Adams, the spokesman for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has known the Prime Minister since the two men were at school together.
Mr Adams expressed concerns earlier this week about a “witch hunt” against boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, who have previously failed gender eligibility tests.
On Thursday, Angela Carini, the Italian boxer, was forced to abandon a fight against Khelif at the games in Paris, claiming she had been hit so hard by her opponent that she feared for her life.
The IOC faced widespread condemnation for placing Carini, who had a suspected broken nose, in a position of danger.
Responding to Khelif’s victory on Thursday, Mr Adams told reporters: “Testosterone is not a perfect test. Many women can have testosterone, which is in what would be called ‘male levels’ and still be women, and still compete as a woman.
“So this panacea, this idea that you do one test for testosterone, that’s not the case I’m afraid. But each sport needs to deal with its issues, they know their sports and their disciplines the best and they need to target and tailor I should say the testing and so on.
“But I hope we’re all agreed we’re not calling for people to go back to the bad old days of sex testing, which was a terrible thing to do and I’m sure we all agree that’s not the way forward in this situation.”
He went on to insist “this is not a transgender issue” and criticise “misreporting” of the row, which has cast a shadow over the Paris Olympics.
Khelif and Yu-Ting were disqualified from the Women’s World Boxing Championships in March 2023 after failing gender tests. However, the IOC has different rules from the International Boxing Association.
Mr Adams said earlier this week that he was comfortable with the rules.
He said: “These boxers are entirely eligible, they are women on their passports, they have competed for many years.
“I actually think it is not helpful to start stigmatising people who take part in sport like this. They are women who competed in Tokyo.
“I think we all have a responsibility to dial down this and not turn it into some kind of witch-hunt. These are regular athletes who have competed for many years in boxing, they are entirely eligible and they are women on their passports,”
In 2014, Mr Adams referred to Sir Keir as “my old mate” as he congratulated him on his selection as the Labour candidate for St Pancras and Holborn at the 2015 general election.
“Over the moon that my old mate Keir Starmer has been selected… He’ll be a real campaigner for constituents,” he said.
When Sir Keir was subsequently elected on May 7, Mr Adams wrote: “Congrats to a great bloke.”
He was one of Sir Keir’s four best men.
Mr Adams, a former broadcast journalist, joined the IOC as its director of communications in 2009.
He worked at the BBC, ITN and EuroNews before spending 10 years in a senior communications role for the World Economic Forum
Like Sir Keir, who has a season ticket at the Emirates Stadium, Mr Adams is a lifelong fan of Arsenal Football Club.
Speaking to Tom Baldwin, Sir Keir’s biographer, in May, Mr Adams said: “Keir’s a regular bloke who has always liked a pint or two, talking nonsense with his mates and playing far more football than is good for him.
“It’s how he plugs back into his private network and recharges himself.”
In a separate profile of the Prime Minister in The Times, Mr Adams said he often teases Sir Keir about how he is becoming more like his late father Rodney, adding: “Keir hates it when I do that.”
Mr Adams attended Reigate Grammar School in the 1970s alongside Sir Keir and fondly recalled his time at the school on social media.
Everything to the nth degree
Mr Adams has lived in Lausanne ever since he began his role with the IOC, having lived and worked in Geneva during his time at the World Economic Forum.
In a 2020 profile of Sir Keir in the Financial Times, Mr Adams described him as a perfectionist “does everything to the nth degree”.
He recalled: “I once asked him why he gave up playing the flute and he said, ‘If I can’t practise every day, I can’t be top level, so I don’t want to do it’.
“As a lawyer, he would work on cases until 3am and get up at 7am and feel fine. He is someone who works like a dog but also has a forensic intellect.”
In February, Mr Adams was among guests including Sean Dyche, the Everton manager, at a drinks party for senior sport figures held by Sir Keir, who reportedly namechecked his old school friend in his speech.
