Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting, who has been at the center of the gender controversy in the Olympics, took home gold in the women's featherweight division (126 pounds or 57 kg) via unanimous decision against Julia Szeremeta of Poland on Saturday.
The boxing match ended with the judges ruling that Lin won the match for the gold medal. During the fight, hosts made comments about Lin's height compared to Szeremeta, saying that Lin was much taller than the female boxer from Poland. In addition, they talked about Lin's reach being much longer than Szeremeta's.
Lin as well as Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who has also been wrapped into the controversy, were both disqualified from the 2023 world championships after International Boxing Association (IBA) officials announced they failed their gender eligibility tests. The Russian-led IBA said at the time that the boxers "pretended to be women" and possessed "XY chromosomes."
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) withdrew recognition of the IBA in June 2023 as a result of a failure to make conditions set by the IOC in 2021. USA Boxing terminated its relationship with the IBA in 2023, stating that there were "ongoing failures of IBA leadership."
In a joint statement from the IOC as well as the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit, they stated, "Every person has the right to practice sport without discrimination," and added that all athletes "participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit. As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport."
The IOC has said that Lin’s passport as well as medical background indicate that the athlete was born female. Lin has competed in female boxing matches since middle school and started at the amateur level in 2017. The athlete competed during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after they were postponed to 2021.
The boxing match ended with the judges ruling that Lin won the match for the gold medal. During the fight, hosts made comments about Lin's height compared to Szeremeta, saying that Lin was much taller than the female boxer from Poland. In addition, they talked about Lin's reach being much longer than Szeremeta's.
Lin as well as Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who has also been wrapped into the controversy, were both disqualified from the 2023 world championships after International Boxing Association (IBA) officials announced they failed their gender eligibility tests. The Russian-led IBA said at the time that the boxers "pretended to be women" and possessed "XY chromosomes."
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) withdrew recognition of the IBA in June 2023 as a result of a failure to make conditions set by the IOC in 2021. USA Boxing terminated its relationship with the IBA in 2023, stating that there were "ongoing failures of IBA leadership."
In a joint statement from the IOC as well as the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit, they stated, "Every person has the right to practice sport without discrimination," and added that all athletes "participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit. As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport."
The IOC has said that Lin’s passport as well as medical background indicate that the athlete was born female. Lin has competed in female boxing matches since middle school and started at the amateur level in 2017. The athlete competed during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after they were postponed to 2021.
