Paris Olympics: Lin Yu-ting, boxer at the center of gender controversy, assured of a medal

PARIS — Lin Yu Ting, one of two female boxers embroiled in a gender controversy at the Summer Olympics, won her quarter-final in the 57kg class and is assured of a medal.

Lin, from Chinese Taipei, defeated Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva by unanimous decision, 5-0. Lin is a tall, lean southpaw who had little trouble overpowering Staneva. The fight featured numerous tie-ups and step-ins by the referee.

At the Olympic Games, all four boxers who reach the semi-finals are guaranteed at least a bronze medal.

Lin and Algeria’s Imane Khelif in the 66kg class have found themselves in a global spotlight and culture war after it was revealed they have both been disqualified from the 2023 world championships by the International Boxing Association for failing to “comply with the eligibility rules.”

IBA President Umar Kremlev told a Russian news agency that the disqualifications were because “it was proven that they had XY chromosomes.”

However, the IOC has repeatedly and emphatically defended the boxers as women and has dismissed the credibility of the IBA. The IBA has close ties to the Russian government and no longer oversees boxing at the Olympics due to what the IOC describes as repeated judging scandals and general corruption.

The IOC said both fighters, who have long international careers – including the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where neither won a medal – met all the criteria and tests to qualify here.

Most notably, it has been repeatedly stated that the fighters are not transgender athletes.

“We have two boxers who were born as women, who were raised as women, who have a passport as women and who have fought as women for many years,” IOC President Thomas Bach said Saturday. “Some want a definition of who is a woman.”

“This is not a transgender issue,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. “There has been some confusion that this is a man fighting a woman. That is simply not the case. There is consensus on that. Scientifically, this is not a man fighting a woman.”

At issue is the IBA’s decision to disqualify both fighters from the 2023 world championships following the results of an undisclosed “gender test.” The IBA’s minutes of that decision state that the two also “failed” a gender test at the 2022 world championships, but the results were not released until after the bout.

The IBA does not answer why they allowed both fighters to compete in 2023 when the IBA was aware of the 2022 test.

The IBA has close ties to the Russian government and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The IOC has officially banned Russia from the last four Olympics and this year instituted a system that bans almost all Russian athletes from competing at all — only 15, fewer than a typical delegation of more than 300 million, came to Paris.

That is why the Russian government has tried to sow doubt about the Olympic Games in Paris.

“What we have seen from the Russian side and in particular from the (IBA) is that long before these Games they have been conducting a smear campaign against France, against the Games, against the IOC,” Bach said.

The controversy will undoubtedly continue, despite the IOC’s calls.

This also applies to Lin Yu Tang, who is moving on to the medal rounds.