Taiwan’s sports chiefs said on Wednesday that Olympic boxing champion Lin Yu-Ting had withdrawn from competing in Britain after her gender eligibility was questioned, but organizers countered that she had not been entered. competition. Lin, who along with Algerian boxer Imane Khelif was embroiled in a gender row at the Paris Olympics, was due to compete in the World Cup boxing final in Sheffield starting on Wednesday. The new competition is organized by World Boxing, which was founded in 2023 and has about 55 members, including Taiwan.
It was due to be Lin’s first international competition since Paris, but she withdrew after World Boxing questioned her eligibility, Taiwan Sports Administration said in a statement.
“She is a woman, meets all the selection criteria and successfully competed in the women’s boxing competition (in Paris), winning a gold medal,” the statement said.
“Unfortunately, as World Boxing is new and still developing its operational arrangements, it lacks clear IOC regulatory policies that ensure the protection of athlete rights,” the statement said, referring to the International Olympic Committee.
“Further, the World Boxing Medical Committee has not yet established robust confidentiality procedures to protect medical information provided by Taiwan regarding Lin Yu-ting.”
Lin, 28, offered to undergo a “comprehensive on-site medical examination” in the UK, but World Boxing did not agree, the statement said.
To avoid further “harm,” Lin, her coach and Taiwanese sports officials “decided to withdraw from the event in advance.”
Lin arrived in Britain a few days ago and pulled out of Tuesday’s event, Sports Authority’s Hsieh Chi-ying told AFP.
Safety first
But World Boxing said later on Wednesday that its current selection policies do not prevent Lu from competing in the World Cup of Boxing.
“Decisions on selection are made by national federations, and the boxer was not entered into the competition,” a representative of the organization said.
The spokesman added: “At World Boxing we put the boxers first and the safety of the athletes is paramount.
“We have recognized for some time that gender clarity is an extremely complex issue with significant welfare concerns, and our medical committee has a dedicated working group looking at all aspects of this area so that we can strengthen our policy.”
Lin and Khelif were excluded from last year’s world championships, hosted by the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA), but were cleared by the IOC to compete in Paris.
Kremlin-linked IBA President Umar Kremlev said at a chaotic news conference that both women had undergone “genetic testing, which shows that they are male.”
The IOC defended both boxers, with President Thomas Bach saying they were born and raised as women and their passports showed this. Neither is known to identify as transgender.
World Boxing is in talks with the IOC to take over the sport at the Games after a damaging gender dispute.
Lin, who won gold in the women’s final, was called the “daughter of Taiwan” by both local media and President Lai Ching-te.
Taiwanese Prime Minister Cho Yung-tai said on Wednesday that the government would “actively seek to protect and ensure” Lin’s rights to compete in future international competitions.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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