Lin Yu Ting and Imane Khelif make it to the Olympic boxing finals despite the debate surrounding gender eligibility.
Even though her gender eligibility was continuously being scrutinized, Lin Yu Ting managed to advance to the boxing competition’s final round. Lin withstood a formidable assault from Yildiz Kahraman throughout their bout, as Kahraman employed potent punches and combos.
The 5-foot-9 Taiwanese fighter’s height and reach advantage were too much for the Turkish boxer to overcome, and during the fight, she made a clear “XX” gesture to indicate her displeasure with the result. Olympic boxing does not have separate bronze medal matches, therefore Kahraman will take home a bronze while Lin goes on to battle for gold.
Lin Yu Ting advances to boxing final
After Imane Khelif of Algeria won her third straight bout to qualify for the women’s welterweight final, Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu Ting also made it to the gold medal match in the women’s featherweight category. Debates over gender eligibility in women’s boxing have revolved on both fighters.
Lin’s final opponent will be Julia Szeremeta of Poland. The International Boxing Association (IBA) declared that the Taiwanese boxing sensation and fellow contestant Imane Khelif had “XY chromosomes,” leading to their disqualification from that event. Since then, because of their involvement in the competition and their ease in pulling ahead of their opponents, the two have been the target of intense criticism and hate speech on the internet.
Yildiz Kahraman shows signs of protest
After suffering a devastating 5-0 loss, the Turkish boxer indicated that she was a XX chromosomal lady by waving her fingers like a double “X,” similar to what Bulgarian Svetlana Kamenova Staneva did in the quarterfinals. According to the International Olympic Committee, Lin and Khelif are both “biologically female,” hence they are both eligible to compete in the women’s division. Even the gender tests employed by the IBA in the ongoing dispute were rejected by the Committee.
Bulgarian boxer Svetlana Staneva throws up an XX hand sign after loss to Lin Yu-Ting, XY male chromosome positive.
— Jim Yang (@bionicleap77) August 4, 2024
All the real Olympic Women Boxers should be signing this after matching up with both Lin Yu-Ting and Imane Khelif, win or lose. Whoever defeats these two… pic.twitter.com/2rF6K5WC2z
The IOC has previously defended its position, saying that the Algerian boxer “was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, and has a female passport.” The IBA was canceled due to transparency issues, and the association was banned in 2023.
After the bout, Lin reportedly declared, “I will use everything I’ve learned in my life to do my best in the next match.” This is according to AP.
In each of their three Olympic games, Lin and Khelif have triumphed in every match. In the gold medal match, Lin will face 20-year-old Szeremeta, who defeated Filipino Nesthy Petecio 4:1 after rallying hard in the third round. On Friday night, Khelif will compete against Chinese athlete Yang Liu in the women’s 75-kilogram final.
