Second Olympic gender row boxer Lin Yu-ting in gold medal fight | Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting will compete for an Olympic gold medal for the first time after she defeated Esra Yildiz Kahraman unanimously in the women’s 57kg semi-final.

Lin has been the subject of a gender eligibility row after being banned from last year’s world championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA). Despite the huge outcry, she has remained focused on her goal and will face Poland’s Julia Szeremeta in the final. “I’m one fight closer to my goal of the gold medal. I really enjoyed that fight,” Lin said afterwards.

The IBA, which is led by Russian businessman Umar Kremlev and funded by Russia’s state oil company Gazprom, was stripped of its recognition as the governing body of boxing and expelled from the Olympic Games over concerns including corruption and financial transparency.

Since the uproar, many Taiwanese officials have come to Lin’s defense. Taiwanese President Lai Ching Te has written numerous messages in support of Lin on social media, and on Tuesday the Taiwan Sports Administration threatened the IBA with legal action over the “continued publication of false information” about the eligibility of Lin and Algerian Imane Khelif.

After the defeat, Lin and Kahraman shook hands and the Turk spoke briefly with Lin’s longtime coach, John Tseng Tzu-Chiang, before opening the ropes to help Lin leave the ring.

However, as she walked back to her side of the ring, she placed her index fingers together to form an “X” and presented them to the opposite sides of the ring. It was a similar gesture to that of Lin’s defeated opponent, Svetlana Staneva, in the previous round, which some have interpreted as a reference to XX chromosomes.

Lin came out to cheer and support from a near-capacity stadium, with chants of “Yu-Ting, Jia You” (“Come on, Yu-Ting”) echoing throughout the match. While Kahraman landed a series of blows early on, Lin controlled the early stages. She finished the first round with all five judges ruling in her favor.

Lin and Kahraman started the second round with a series of lightning-fast punches, but throughout the match the Taiwanese, a relatively tall and slim boxer of 1.75 meters, made excellent use of her superior height.

While Kahraman was more proactive, throwing more punches and trying to make closer contact, Lin danced around with confidence and ease, creating distance between the two fighters and patiently waiting for her moments to counter Kahraman when she dropped her guard. It was a smooth, cool and confident performance.

Each successful round gave Lin, the Taiwanese boxer, the courage to perform with even more freedom and in the third round she was imperious. When she was declared the winner, Lin bowed to both sides of the stadium before leaving.

Lin, a two-time world champion who took up boxing to protect her single mother and family from violence, is competing in her second Olympics at the age of 28. Three years ago, at the Tokyo Games, she was defeated in the round of 16 by Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines, who showed she could neutralize Lin’s height and reach en route to a silver medal.

“The feeling I get going into the gold medal match is a feeling of gratitude to myself for making it this far,” she said. “After being eliminated in the first round of the Tokyo Olympics, it was a tough journey to reach the final. I will use everything I have learned in my life to do my best in the next match.”

Petecio’s hopes of improving on that medal ended Wednesday night when she was defeated in the semifinals by Szeremeta, a 20-year-old who established herself as a force this week in Paris. Szeremeta is the first Polish boxing medalist at the Olympics since 1992.

Khelif has also reached the finals of her weight class, the 66kg competition, where she will face Yang Liu of China. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khyzhniak became the Olympic gold medalist in the men’s 80kg category, beating Nurbek Oralbay of Kazakhstan by a split decision. Erislandy Álvarez Borges of Cuba defeated Sofiane Oumiha of France by a split decision in the men’s 63.5kg final.