Gender controversies continue in the world of boxing, beyond the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Taiwanese Olympic champion Lin Yu-ting withdrew from an international competition in Great Britain after the organizer questioned his gender eligibility, Taiwanese sports authorities announced Wednesday.
“She is a woman, she meets all the eligibility criteria and she successfully participated in the women's boxing event in Paris, winning a gold medal,” underlines the Taiwanese federation in a press release. Lin, who had not returned to a ring since the Games this summer, was due to participate in the finals of the Boxing World Cup in Sheffield from Wednesday.
The authorities pass responsibilities on to each other
This is a competition organized by World Boxing, a new organization founded in 2023 intended to restore credibility to world amateur boxing, after the break between the IBA (International Boxing Federation) and the IOC. “World Boxing's current eligibility policy does not prevent Lin Yu-ting from participating in the Boxing World Cup,” a World Boxing spokesperson responded Wednesday, appearing to pass the blame for Lin Yu's withdrawal. -Ting to the Taiwan federation.
“Selection decisions are made by the national federations and the boxer was not registered for this event,” he added. The Taiwan Federation for its part accuses World Boxing of being responsible for the loss of its boxer. “Unfortunately, as World Boxing has just been established, it does not have clear IOC regulatory policies that ensure the protection of athletes' rights,” the statement said.
“Athlete safety is absolutely paramount”
Lin had offered to undergo a “full on-site medical examination” in Britain, but World Boxing did not accept, according to the statement. To prevent Lin from suffering further “harm,” his coach and Taiwanese sports officials “decided to proactively withdraw from this event.” In its response, World Boxing assures that “boxers come first” and that “the safety of athletes is absolutely paramount”.
“We have recognized for some time that gender clarification is an extremely complex issue that raises important welfare questions. Our medical committee has a dedicated working group that is committed to examining all aspects of this area so that we can strengthen our policy,” continued the spokesperson for the body.
Our file on the Paris 2024 Olympics
Lin, like the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, also crowned Olympic champion in Paris, had been the target of a hate campaign against the backdrop of a dispute between the IOC, which had authorized them to compete, and the International Boxing Federation (IBA ). At the origin of this controversy, the IBA's decision to exclude Lin and Khelif from the World Championships in New Delhi in March 2023 on the grounds, according to the IBA, that they had failed a test intended to establish their feminine gender. The IBA, a body which is no longer recognized by the Olympic world, has always refused to specify what type of test had been carried out.
