A second female boxer who “failed a gender test” has won her first fight at the Olympics after being cleared to compete at the event amid a dispute over eligibility.
Taiwanese Lin Yu-Ting produced a dominant display over three rounds at the North Paris Arena on Friday to claim victory against Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova.
The 28-year-old displayed impressive striking and quick footwork to maintain dominance inside the ring and secure the points victory.
Her opponent Turdibekova then became emotional and could not hold back her tears when the decision was read out inside the arena. She also chose not to shake Yu-Ting’s hand after the bell rang.
Yu-Ting, a two-time world and Asian championship gold medalist who reportedly has 40 wins and 14 losses in his amateur career, was ranked as the top seed at the event.
Lin Yu-ting (pictured), who like Khelif was disqualified from the Women’s World Championships last year, won her opening fight at the women’s featherweight boxing event.
Lin scored a unanimous decision victory over Sitora Turdibekova (right) at the North Paris Arena
Uzbek Turdibekova burst into tears inside the boxing ring after reading the result.
Lin’s fight comes a day after Algeria’s Imane Khelif, left, won the women’s welterweight bout when Angela Carini, right, quit after 46 seconds.
Lin is one of two boxers at the Games who were disqualified from last year’s World Women’s Boxing Championships.
Her victory comes just 24 hours after controversy erupted when Algeria’s Imane Khelif won the women’s welterweight event amid an eligibility dispute.
Carini was hit twice by Khelif in the first round of their women’s welterweight fight in Paris.
The blows appeared to rip the Italian boxer’s chin strap off, and she headed to her corner.
Carini returned to the center of the ring and abandoned the fight, leading to Khelif being declared the winner.
The Italian boxer, who had said before the fight that she “could only adapt to the rules of the Olympic Games”, was later seen crying in the centre of the ring after the abrupt conclusion of the fight.
The International Boxing Association (IBA), which has had its recognition stripped amid a series of governance issues, disqualified Khelif and Lin from the Women’s World Boxing Championships last year.
Lin had won the bronze medal, after winning three fights before losing in the semifinals to Karina Ibragimova of Kazakhstan.
The IBA subsequently stripped Lin of his medal, claiming that the boxer had not met eligibility requirements.
Turdibekova refused to shake her controversial opponent’s hand after the loss.
The International Boxing Association, led by its president Umar Kremlev, has disqualified Lin and Khelif from the World Championships on the grounds that they failed eligibility tests.
The IBA said the tests were conducted at its 2022 and 2023 World Championships, and that Lin did not exercise the option to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
According to feminist website Reduxx, both are believed to be affected by a Difference of Sex Development (DSD), a series of medical conditions identified at birth where the genitals are atypical in relation to the chromosomes.
The International Boxing Association (IBA) released a statement on Wednesday, saying its decisions were made “after a meticulous review.”
The IBA stated that none of the athletes underwent testosterone tests, but were “subjected to a separate, recognized test” that was conducted at their 2022 and 2023 World Championships.
It is claimed that the tests “conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the necessary eligibility criteria required”, and that both boxers ‘They were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors.’
The IBA has hit out at the IOC, saying its regulations differ…raise serious questions about competitive fairness and athlete safety.
Lin triumphed at the Asian Games last year and secured a spot in her second Olympics.
The IBA is not responsible for the Olympic competition being stripped of its recognition by the IOC amid ongoing governance issues (the organisation established the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit to organise the event).
The IOC then issued an equally strongly worded statement in response on Friday: “All athletes participating in the boxing tournament at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set out by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit. Under previous Olympic boxing competitions, athletes’ gender and age were based on their passport.
“Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process. According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO.”
They added: “The current aggression against these two athletes is entirely based on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure, especially considering that these athletes had been competing in high-level competitions for many years,” the statement continued.
The Boxing Unit approved the participation of both boxers under the rules in force for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which are less strict than those of the IBA.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams warned against a “witch hunt” against the two boxers allowed to compete in Paris and criticised misinformation, stressing that the cases are not a transgender issue.
Adams had urged a “tone down” on the rhetoric, adding that they were “totally comfortable with the rules” that had previously been used at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
