Support truly
independent journalism
Lin Yu-ting, one of the boxers at the centre of a gender controversy, has reached the semi-finals of the women’s 57kg event with victory against Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva.
The inclusion of Chinese Taipei fighter Lin and fellow boxer Imane Khelif at Paris 2024 has attracted criticism after both were disqualified from last year’s World Championships for failing to meet gender eligibility criteria.
Both fighters have previously competed in female boxing events for a number of years, but the International Boxing Association (IBA) – which carried out the tests in 2023 – said the duo failed “to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition”.
The IBA was stripped as the global governing body for boxing in June last year by the IOC, which is overseeing the sport in Paris.
In Sunday’s quarter-final bout, Lin earned her second successive win in the competition by unanimous decision against Staneva.
The Bulgarian started well to keep Lin at bay and hit a good left hook followed up by a big blow to her face, but Lin also began to land well towards the end of the round.
Staneva became frustrated as she struggled to follow through with her punches and the Chinese Taipei fighter began to take advantage of her longer reach with some quick hits before easing to victory.
It means that Lin is guaranteed at least a bronze medal and will fight in the semi-finals on Wednesday against Turkey’s Esra Yildiz Kahraman.
Khelif also won her quarter-final bout on Saturday by unanimous decision against Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori.
Earlier on Saturday, International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach condemned the “hate speech” the pair have received on social media.
“Let’s be very clear, we are talking about women’s boxing,” Bach said.
“We have two boxers who are born as a woman, who have been raised as a woman, who have a passport as a woman and who have competed for many years as a woman.
“This is the clear definition of a woman. There was never any doubt about them being a woman.”
