Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting has pulled out of an international competition in Britain after the organiser questioned her gender eligibility

Taiwan’s Olympic boxing gold medallist Lin Yu-ting has pulled out of an international competition in Britain after the organiser questioned her gender eligibility, Taiwanese sports officials said Wednesday.

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 Boxing Cup Finals in Sheffield starting Wednesday.

The new competition was organised by World Boxing, which was founded in 2023 and boasts around 55 members, including Taiwan.

It was to be Lin’s first international competition since Paris, but she withdrew after World Boxing questioned her eligibility, Taiwan’s Sports Administration said in a statement.

“She is female, meets all eligibility criteria, and successfully participated in the women’s boxing event (in Paris), winning a gold medal,” the statement said.

“Unfortunately, as World Boxing is newly established and still navigating the development of its operational mechanisms, it lacks the clear regulatory policies of the IOC that ensure the protection of athletes’ rights,” it said, referring to the International Olympic Committee.

“Additionally, World Boxing’s medical committee has yet to establish robust confidentiality procedures to safeguard the medical information submitted by Taiwan regarding Lin Yu-ting.”

Lin had offered to undergo a “comprehensive medical examination locally” in Britain but World Boxing did not agree, the statement said.

To avoid further “harm” to Lin, her coach and Taiwanese sports officials “decided to withdraw from this event proactively”.

Lin had arrived in Britain a few days ago and pulled out of the event on Tuesday, Hsieh Chi-ying from the Sports Administration told AFP.

Neither World Boxing nor England Boxing immediately responded to AFP’s requests for comment.

Lin and Khelif were thrown out of last year’s world championships — which was run by the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA)– but they were cleared by the IOC to compete in Paris.

IBA’s Kremlin-linked president Umar Kremlev claimed in a chaotic press conference that the two women had undergone “genetic testing that show that these are men”.

The IOC leapt to the defence of both boxers, with president Thomas Bach saying they were born and raised as women, and have passports saying that. Neither is known to identify as transgender.

World Boxing is in talks with the International Olympic Committee to take over running the sport at the Games after the damaging gender controversy.

Lin, who went on to win the gold in her women’s final, was dubbed “Taiwan’s daughter” by both local media and President Lai Ching-te.

Taiwan premier Cho Jung-tai said Wednesday that the government would “actively strive to protect and secure” Lin’s rights to take part in future international competitions.

Inside life of ‘fearless’ Olympic boxer Lin Yu-ting – heartbreaking motivation and nickname

Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting has come under cruel scrutiny after her biological gender was questioned by fans of the Olympic Games following failed tests last year

Lin Yu-ting has won her first-round bout at the Olympic Games – but her immense success has been smeared with ‘abuse’ away from the ring.

The female boxer, representing Chinese Taipei in Paris, was declared the winner in the 57kg featherweight category against Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova today. But online speculation about the 28-year-old’s biological gender has taken over the discussion of her talent and skill, following the global uproar around Algerian’s Imane Khelif.

Both athletes failed gender eligibility tests last year, however were allowed to compete in Paris due to the existing regulations. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is administering the boxing event in Paris after stripping the IBA of recognition as the sport’s global federation last year, argued that both Khelif, 25, and Yu-ting have competed in the women’s category on the international stage for many years, including the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

She learnt to box to protect her mother from her abusive father

Away from boxing, Ting enjoys singing and watching television

In a strongly worded statement, the IOC said both boxers “comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable regulations”. They added that the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passports, and Khelif and Yu-ting have been competing in “top-level competition for many years”.

It finished: “The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving. Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination.”

While The International Boxing Association (IBA) did not specify why the boxers failed their gender eligibility tests, they clarified that neither boxer underwent testosterone examinations. Lin does not identify as transgender or intersex.

The star is a two-time world champion and spoke out after winning the gold medal at the World Youth Women’s Boxing Championship about her drive to succeed. In an interview with Liberty Times in 2013, she said she was born into a family of domestic violence and “learning boxing is to protect my mother”.

Her coach Zeng Ziqiang explained that Yu-ting learnt the sport after her mother was repeatedly beaten by her father, she alleged. Yu-ting, who goes by the nickname ‘Ting’, was also inspired to take up boxing after watching The First Divine, a popular animated series in Taiwan, as a child.

She won her first-round bout at the Olympics today against Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova

She said that watching the Manga cartoon made her “interested in boxing”, though her mother was initially concerned that training would interfere with her studies. After bagging a 40,000 Taiwanese dollar education scholarship, she gave her future prize money to support her mother.

In 2021, she took part in her first Olympics in Tokyo where she lost in the round of 16. Away from boxing, Yu-ting enjoys exercising, singing and watching television. Her hero is Ukrainian boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko, who is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-weight world champion.

Ahead of her boxing match on Friday, Taiwan’s former president, Tsai Ing-wen, wrote on Facebook : “Let’s cheer for Lin Yu-ting together”, adding on X that Lin was “fearless in the face of challenges, whether they come from inside or outside the ring”. The Secretary-General for Taiwan’s Presidential office, Pan Men-an, also said it was wrong for her to be “subjection to humiliation, insults and verbal bullying just because of your appearance and a controversial verdict in the past”.