Taiwan boxer at center of Olympic gender row ‘quits event’

(FILES) Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting reacts after beating Poland’s Julia Szeremeta (Blue) in the women’s 57kg final boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Roland-Garros Stadium, in Paris on August 10, 2024. | Photo by Mauro PIMENTEL / AFP

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Taiwan sports chiefs said Wednesday that Olympic boxing champion Lin Yu-ting had pulled out of a competition in Britain after her gender eligibility was questioned but organisers countered that she was not entered in the event.

Lin, who along with Algerian boxer Imane Khelif was embroiled in a gender row at the Paris Olympics, was due to compete in the World Boxing Cup Finals in Sheffield starting Wednesday.

The new competition is organised by World Boxing, which was founded in 2023 and boasts around 55 members, including Taiwan.

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It was to be Lin’s first international competition since Paris, but she withdrew after World Boxing questioned her eligibility, Taiwan’s Sports Administration said in a statement.

“She is female, meets all eligibility criteria, and successfully participated in the women’s boxing event (in Paris), winning a gold medal,” the statement said.

“Unfortunately, as World Boxing is newly established and still navigating the development of its operational mechanisms, it lacks the clear regulatory policies of the IOC that ensure the protection of athletes’ rights,” it said, referring to the International Olympic Committee.

“Additionally, World Boxing’s medical committee has yet to establish robust confidentiality procedures to safeguard the medical information submitted by Taiwan regarding Lin Yu-ting.”

(FILES) Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting reacts after slipping duing the women’s 57kg quarter-final boxing match against Bulgaria’s Svetlana Kamenova Staneva during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena, in Villepinte on August 4, 2024. | Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP

Lin, 28, had offered to undergo a “comprehensive medical examination locally” in Britain but World Boxing did not agree, the statement said.

To avoid further “harm” to Lin, her coach and Taiwanese sports officials “decided to withdraw from this event proactively”.

Lin had arrived in Britain a few days ago and pulled out of the event on Tuesday, Hsieh Chi-ying from the Sports Administration told AFP.

Safety first

But World Boxing said later Wednesday that its current eligibility policy does not prevent Lu from taking part in the World Boxing Cup.

“Selection decisions are made by national federations and the boxer was not entered in the event,” said a spokesman for the organisation.

The spokesman added: “At World Boxing we put boxers first and the safety of athletes is absolutely paramount.

“We have recognised for some time that gender clarity is an extremely complex issue with significant welfare concerns and our medical committee has a dedicated working group committed to examining every aspect of this area so that we can strengthen our policy.”

Lin and Khelif were thrown out of last year’s world championships — which were run by the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA)– but they were cleared by the IOC to compete in Paris.

The IBA’s Kremlin-linked president Umar Kremlev claimed in a chaotic press conference that the two women had undergone “genetic testing that show that these are men”.

The IOC leapt to the defence of both boxers, with president Thomas Bach saying they were born and raised as women, and have passports saying that. Neither is known to identify as transgender.

World Boxing is in talks with the IOC to take over running the sport at the Games after the damaging gender controversy.

Lin, who went on to win the gold in her women’s final, was dubbed “Taiwan’s daughter” by both local media and President Lai Ching-te.

Taiwan premier Cho Jung-tai said Wednesday that the government would “actively strive to protect and secure” Lin’s rights to take part in future international competitions.