An emotional Lin Yu-ting became the second boxer in 24 hours to win gold at the women’s Olympic Games, despite the ongoing dispute over her gender eligibility.
The Taiwanese defeated 20-year-old Polish Julia Szeremeta by unanimous decision to claim the featherweight title, a day after Imane Khelif became welterweight champion.
Lin and Khelif were allowed to compete in Paris despite being disqualified from last year’s world championships for failing a gender eligibility test.
It was her fourth unanimous decision win out of four competitors in the competition, after the 28-year-old dominated again.
Lin re-entered the ring to loud cheers and there was no sign of protest from Szeremeta, as had been the case with some of Lin’s previous opponents.
Lin and Szeremeta hugged after the results were announced.
The Taiwanese was visibly emotional during the medal ceremony and was afterwards hugged by bronze medalist Esra Yildiz Kahraman.
After the defeat to Lin on Thursday, the Turk Kahraman made an ‘X’ gesture to the crowd, which reportedly represented the female chromosomes. However, both smiled after their embrace on the podium.
Lin’s victory marked the end of one of the most controversial stories of these Olympics, but the debate is likely to continue and could even influence whether boxing is even part of the next Olympics in Los Angeles.
Just before Lin’s fight, a French lawyer had said he was representing Khelif in a legal complaint in France alleging online harassment over the issue.
Nabil Boudi said Khelif has decided to “start a new struggle, a struggle for justice, dignity and honor.”
He said she had filed the complaint alleging “serious online harassment”.
How the controversy developed
Lin and Khelif were suspended last year by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which said the two “did not meet the eligibility criteria for participation in the women’s competition as set out in the IBA regulations.”
But the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which organizes the boxing events at the Olympics, gave them permission to compete. The IOC said that Khelif and Lin “were born and raised as women.” The IBA has also issued strong criticism.
The IOC had previously suspended the Russian-led organisation over governance and regulatory concerns and raised doubts about the testing.
The row broke out after Khelif’s first match, with Italy’s Angela Carini giving up after 46 seconds and saying she had to “save” her life.
While Lin and Khelif enjoyed comfortable victories in the ring, a chaotic IBA press conference last week failed to clear up the confusion surrounding their suspensions.
General manager Chris Roberts said the pair had undergone “chromosome testing”, while president Umar Kremlev appeared to suggest the tests were to determine the fighters’ testosterone levels.
The IOC, which organizes the boxing events at the Olympics since the IBA was suspended, said competitors would be eligible for the women’s division if their passports stated they were female. The IOC has supported the duo throughout the process.
However, there is also criticism from Lin and Khelif’s competitors.
Like Kahraman, Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva made an ‘X’ gesture in the ring after her defeat, although Yang Liu, who was defeated by Khelif on Friday night to secure her victory, held the Algerian’s arm up after the bell in celebration of her victory.
Lin and Szeremeta seemed to be in a good mood.
The Pole, who surprisingly won silver and continued her unusual technique of keeping her hands low but was eliminated by two-time world champion Lin, made a heart shape with her hands towards the crowd before leaving the ring.
What is the future for boxing?
In 2021, the IOC issued new guidelines for women’s sports, placing the responsibility for determining the eligibility criteria for their sports with the individual federations.
Since then, many sports have banned transgender women from competing in women’s events, including athletics, aquatic sports and both rugby codes. Athletics has also introduced specific rules around athletes with differences in sex development (DSD).
If a body were to take over the organization of amateur boxing from the IOC, it could introduce its own rules for entry requirements.
In his interview with the media on Friday, Bach left open the possibility of revising the IOC’s own eligibility rules.
“If someone presents us with a scientifically proven system for identifying men and women, we will be the first to do it,” he said.
“We don’t like this uncertainty, we don’t like it for the overall situation, we would like to look into it.”
The controversy has overshadowed much of boxing in Paris and has done little to ease the uncertain future surrounding the sport’s place at the Olympics.
The sport has been part of every Olympic Games since 1920, but there are doubts whether it will still be on the programme for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
“The IOC will not organize boxing in LA without a reliable partner,” Bach said.
