Olympic boxer Lin Yu-Ting dominates as gender eligibility issue unfolds

PARIS – A second Olympic boxer at the center of controversy over gender eligibility stepped inside the ring at the Paris Games on Friday.

Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan won her opening bout in the women’s competition as the issue of gender and eligibility criteria continued to generate anger and confusion. Capitalizing on her length and quickness, the 5-foot-10 Lin beat Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova on points by unanimous decision.

Lin and Imane Khelif of Algeria were disqualified from the 2023 world championships for reportedly failing gender eligibility criteria at an event run by the International Boxing Association (IBA).

But this week the IOC said the boxers met criteria to compete at the Paris Games and pointed out both boxers participated in the Tokyo Games in 2021. The IOC said the two boxers were victims of arbitrary decisions by the IBA, which disqualified Lin and Khelif after they won medals at the 2023 world championships.

For at least three rounds of boxing Friday, the focus returned to the ring as Lin took on Turdibekova.

About a minute into the first round, Lin’s headgear came off during an exchange with her opponent, revealing her hair to be in a bun atop her head. After her coach got Lin’s headgear back on, the fight resumed and Lin showed more aggression, smothering the 5-6 Ubekistani with punches and winning the round on the card of four of the five judges.

Turdibekova caught Lin with a solid right in the second round, and Lin responded with a barrage of punches and won the round on the cards of all five judges.

Lin did not stop to talk to reporters after the fight. Nor did Turdibekova, who was in tears after the bout.

When it ended, it the outcome was decisive: only a one judge awarded a single round to the Uzbekstani fighter.

Outrage flared Thursday when Khelif won her opening bout in the welterweight division at 146 pounds. She landed only a single punch – to the face of Italy’s Angela Carini, who quit 46 seconds into the fight.

The outcome and scene, with Carini weeping inside the ring and after the fight, triggered a storm of outrage online. Jake Paul, an honorary coach for the U.S. Olympic boxing team, called the situation “sickening” in a post on his X account.

This is sickening. This is a travesty.

Doesn’t matter what you believe. This is wrong and dangerous. https://t.co/mddORfaK2D

— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) August 1, 2024

Yehlif is scheduled to fight Saturday against Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori in the quarterfinals.

Lin is scheduled to fight Sunday against Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva in the quarterfinals.

For complete coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics, visit USA TODAY Sports.