The Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-Tinggold medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, withdrew from an international competition in the United Kingdom after being questioned by the organization about her gender eligibility, according to Taiwanese sports authorities.
Lin, who together with the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif suffered a hate campaign during the Paris Games, he was about to participate starting Wednesday in the World Boxing Cup Finals in the English city of Sheffield.
This new competition is organized by World Boxing, an organization founded in 2023 and which has 55 members, including Taiwan. It was Lin’s first international competition since Paris, but he had to withdraw after World Boxing questioned his eligibility, the Taiwan Sports Administration said in a statement.
“She is a woman, meets all eligibility criteria and successfully participated in the boxing event (in Paris), winning the gold medal,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, as World Boxing has just been created (…) it does not yet have the IOC’s regulatory policies, which ensure the protection of athletes’ rights,” he adds, referring to the International Olympic Committee. “In addition, the World Boxing medical committee has yet to establish robust confidentiality processes to protect medical information provided by Taiwan regarding Lin Yu-ting,” it continues.
Lin proposed undergoing a “full medical examination locally” in the United Kingdom, something to which, according to the statement, World Boxing did not agree. To avoid further “harm” to Lin, his coach and Taiwanese sports officials “have decided to withdraw from this event.”
Lin and Khelif were expelled from the Boxing World Cup in March 2023, whose organization depended on the International Boxing Federation (IBA), but were authorized to participate in the Paris Games. At the Olympic event she won the gold medal in the women’s final, and became the “daughter of Taiwan” for both the national press and President Lai Ching-te.
World Boxing is in talks with the IOC to manage Olympic boxing, after the Olympic body excluded the IBA in 2023 after years of scandals. Neither World Boxing nor the English Boxing Federation have responded at this time.
