Paris Olympics 2024: Gender row continues after Taiwan boxer Lin beats Uzbek Turdibekova

Gender controversy continues in the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 after Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting won her featherweight round of 16 bout against Uzbekistan’s Sidora Turdibekova on points by unanimous decision.

Lin is one of two boxers at the heart of a gender row in the marquee event. The 28-year-old Taiwanese, along with Algerian boxer Imane Khelif have been in the spotlight of the row after being cleared to compete in the Olympics.

Earlier, Khelif had won her round of 16 welterweight fight against Italy’s Angela Carini in just 46 seconds.

Both Lin and Khelif were disqualified at the 2023 World Championships after failing International Boxing Association (IBA) eligibility rules that prevent athletes with male XY chromosomes competing in women’s events.

Notably, the boxing competition in Paris is run by the International Olympic Committee after it removed the IBA’s international recognition in 2023 over governance and finance issues, and the IOC has said the women have every right to compete in Paris.

As per IOC, IBA’s decision to disqualify the boxers last year was arbitrary and the main cause for the furore that has seen people like J K Rowling and Elon Musk voice their opposition.