Lin Yu-ting (Chinese: 林郁婷; pinyin: Lín Yùtíng; born 13 December 1995) is a Taiwanese amateur boxer.[2] She has won two gold medals at the IBA World Boxing Championships, in addition to two gold medals at the Asian Games and one at the Asian Amateur Boxing Championships. She competed for Taiwan at the 2024 Summer Olympics where she defeated Julia Szeremeta of Poland in the final of the women's 57 kg category (featherweight). Lin is the first Taiwanese boxer to win an Olympic gold medal.
Background
Lin has three siblings;[3] as a child, she and her older brother watched the anime Hajime no Ippo, which inspired her to consider boxing.[4] Lin also learned boxing in an effort to protect her mother from domestic abuse.[5] She began training in her first year of junior high school and was, by her second year, showing talent in the boxing ring and winning boxing competitions in Taiwan.[3]
Lin received her bachelor's and master's degrees from the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan. She is currently a doctoral student at the Graduate Institute of Business Administration at Fu Jen Catholic University. Both universities are famous for their sports disciplines.[6]
Upon her return to Taiwan, Lin underwent additional tests that confirmed her eligibility.[5][19] In 2023, she successfully competed at the Hangzhou Asian Games, where she confirmed her eligibility and won Taiwan's first gold medal in boxing at the event.[19]
The boxing events in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics were managed by the IOC's Paris 2024 Boxing Unit.[20] IOC President Thomas Bach defended the participation of Khelif and Lin: "There was never any doubt about them being a woman".[21] Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te and former President Tsai Ing-wen also both expressed support for Lin in August 2024.[22]
Lin won the gold medal after defeating Julia Szeremeta of Poland in the final of the women's 57 kg category (featherweight). With this win, Lin became the first Taiwanese boxer to win an Olympic gold medal.[23]
During the International Boxing Association (IBA) press conference in Paris on 5 August 2024, the position of the organization and its president Umar Kremlev regarding the nature of the conducted tests underwent changes and became contradictory. Initially, the IBA claimed that gender tests were conducted, but at the conference, Secretary General Chris Roberts spoke of "chromosome tests", while Kremlev asserted that the tests were aimed at determining testosterone levels in athletes. The situation was exacerbated by Kremlev's harsh statements; he repeatedly criticized IOC President Thomas Bach, declared his intention to initiate legal proceedings against him and expressed dissatisfaction with the Olympic Games opening ceremony, calling it "humiliating".[24][25][26][27] The IBA claimed to have used laboratories accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for testing, but WADA denied involvement in gender verification, stating it deals solely with anti-doping matters.[26]
