Gender-row boxer Lin wins gold in first event since Paris Olympics

Lin Yu-ting, the reigning champion boxer from Taiwan, won gold on her return to the ring following the 2024 Paris Games gender row, her coach said on Thursday.

Lin and Imane Khelif, both from Algeria, won Olympic titles in different weight classes in Paris.

In her first competition since the Olympics, Lin won gold at Taiwan’s 60-kg championship on Wednesday.

The boxer was seen smiling and holding a gold medal in a photo that was shared on Lin’s Facebook Stories.

“It was good,” he said. Tseng Tzu-chiang, Lin’s coach, stated that the preparations had been done, confirming that this was Lin’s first official event since Paris.

Lin agreed to undergo a mandatory genetic sex test and had indicated that she wanted to compete in the world championships in Liverpool in September.

Tseng claimed Lin had not yet received a response from World Boxing, putting a hold on her participation in upcoming international competitions.

“The outcome depends on how the outcome is decided. If it does, there will be numerous international competitions that we can participate in, Tseng predicted.

Under the recently implemented rules of World Boxing, competitors over the age of 18 who want to compete in the women’s category must undergo a one-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) or a medical equivalent genetic test.

The five-member women’s boxing team from France, which had been competing in Liverpool for a while, were reportedly prohibited from competing there because they had missed the deadline for the submission of test results.

Lin and Khelif were denied entry to the 2023 World Boxing Championships by the International Boxing Association because of their insufficient performance on the eligibility criteria.

However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which intervened to regulate boxing at the Paris Games, allowed them to compete, claiming that the IBA had made a “shut-and-arbitrary decision” to allow them to both. Both won gold medals after that.

Both fighters were the targets of rumors about their biological sex and disinformation during the Games.