PARIS — Boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan has advanced to the gold-medal bout in the women’s featherweight division at the Paris Olympics.
She beat Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey 5:0 for her third consecutive victory in the tournament while dealing with widespread scrutiny regarding misconceptions about her gender.
Lin again used her superior height and technique to beat the more physical Kahraman. Lin will fight for gold on Saturday, taking on Julia Szeremeta of Poland.
Both Lin and Alergian boxer Imane Khelif have responded to the scrutiny generated by the International Boxing Association’s decision to disqualify them from last year’s world championships by going on two of the best runs of their careers in Paris. Both boxers have advanced to the gold-medal bout in their divisions in Paris.
Yu-ting and Khelif have been the subject of hateful rhetoric during the Games over misconceptions about their gender.
The vitriol stems from claims by the International Boxing Association, which has been permanently banned from the Olympics, that both Khelif and Lin failed unspecified eligibility tests for the women’s competition at last year’s world championships.
“I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects,” Khelif said in an interview with The Associated Press in Arabic on Monday. “It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying.”
IOC president Thomas Bach has been supportive of the two boxers and their right to compete at the Olympics.
“We will not take part in a politically motivated… cultural war,” Bach said at a news briefing Saturday. “What is going on in this context in the social media with all this hate speech, with this aggression and abuse, and fuelled by this agenda, is totally unacceptable.”
— With files from Sportsnet Staff
