Olympic Gold Medalist Boxer Surrounded by Gender Debate Advances to Asian Championship Semifinals

ULAANBAATAR – In a significant return to the ring, Olympic gold medalist Lin Yu-ting triumphed in her quarterfinal match at the Asian Boxing Championships on Friday, marking her first competition since World Boxing verified her gender through a genetic test.

Making history as Taiwan’s first Olympic boxing champion, Lin faced off against Thananya Somnuek of Thailand earlier this week. Competing in the 60-kilogram lightweight category, she secured a decisive 5-0 victory.

Continuing her winning streak, Lin delivered another flawless performance on Friday by defeating Ayaka Taguchi of Japan, who was the division’s top seed. She dominated each round, earning a unanimous 5-0 decision with perfect scores from all five judges.

At 30 years old, Lin was competing internationally for the first time since claiming the women’s 57-kg featherweight title at the Paris Olympics in August 2024.

World Boxing, which took over as the sport’s Olympic-level governing body last year, introduced a policy in August requiring all athletes to undergo a one-time genetic test to detect the presence of a Y chromosome, confirming their eligibility to compete.

World Boxing didn’t confirm Lin’s eligibility until March 19.

It was not clear whether Lin will have to undergo further gene testing if she wants to compete again at the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee announced last week new rules banning transgender athletes and a mandatory gene test once in an athlete’s career.

Lin and Imane Khelif of Algeria won gold medals at Paris amid international scrutiny and misconceptions over both boxers’ sex. While both met the eligibility rules followed at the time by the IOC, which ran the Paris tournament, the two fighters’ success sparked a politically charged debate over those standards.

Lin is expected to fight in the Asian tournament semifinals on Monday.

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AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing