Second boxer caught up in gender row secures Olympic medal

A second boxer at the centre of an Olympics gender controversy is guaranteed a medal after reaching the featherweight semi-finals in Paris.

Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting beat Svetlana Staneva of Bulgaria by a unanimous decision in a quarter-final fight on Sunday.

The inclusion of Lin and fellow Algerian boxer Imane Khelif at the games has drawn criticism after both were disqualified from last year’s World Championships for failing to meet gender eligibility criteria.

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The International Boxing Association (IBA), which carried out the tests in 2023, was stripped as the global governing body last year over governance and finance issues by the International Olympic Committee, which is overseeing the sport in Paris.

The Bulgarian Olympic Committee said on Friday it had voiced its concerns over the two boxers’ presence at the tournament during a meeting with the IOC’s medical and scientific commission on 27 July.

The country’s boxing coach Borislav Georgiev has now claimed the row influenced the judges into awarding Lin victory.

He said: “I am indignant at the funfair that is taking place. They have decided to make them champions and that’s it.”

But IOC president Thomas Bach has insisted there “was never any doubt” that both Lin and Khelif were women who had every right to compete at the Paris Olympics.

The organisation has dismissed last year’s IBA tests as illegitimate and lacking credibility.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said: “The whole process is flawed.

“From the conception of the test, to how the test was shared with us, to how the tests have become public, is so flawed that it’s impossible to engage with it.”

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Speaking following her quarter-final win, which assures her of at least a bronze medal, Lin said: “I know all of Taiwan’s people are standing behind me and supporting me, and I will carry this energy to the end.

“Even though I won this match doesn’t mean I can relax, I still need to work hard.”

Lin will now face Turkey’s Esra Yildiz in the semi-finals on Wednesday.

Khelif is also a guaranteed medallist after winning her welterweight quarter-final against Hungary’s Luca Anna Hamori by unanimous decision on Saturday.

The debate over the pair’s participation in the tournament erupted after the Algerian won her round-of-16 bout in 46 seconds on Thursday, when her Italian opponent Angela Carini pulled out of the fight.

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Carini was hit with multiple punches in the first 30 seconds, before raising her hand and returning to her corner to withdraw from the fight, saying she had felt intense pain and was worried about her own safety.

She later apologised and said she regretted not shaking hands with Khelif after their contest.

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Olympics chief Mr Bach has condemned the “hate speech” the fighters have received on social media.

He said: “Let’s be very clear, we are talking about women’s boxing.

“We have two boxers who are born as a woman, who have been raised as a woman, who have a passport as a woman and who have competed for many years as a woman.

“This is the clear definition of a woman. There was never any doubt about them being a woman.”

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World Athletics has grappled with how to treat competitors with differences in sex development (DSD) – notably the two-time Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya.

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