"Let them talk" Boxers win Olympic gold after fierce debate about starting rights
The boxers at the center of a gender debate both crown themselves Olympic champions. After Imane Khelif, Lin Yu-ting also defies the enormous pressure.
11.08.2024, 08:30
11.08.2024, 09:05
dpa
Boxer Lin Yu-ting has also put a golden end to the heated gender debate. One day after Algerian Imane Khelif, the 28-year-old from Taiwan won her Olympic final and secured the gold medal despite the immense pressure. Lin prevailed on Court Philippe Chatrier in the featherweight category against Poland's Julia Szeremeta with a unanimous points victory. After the verdict was announced, she knelt down in the ring and kissed the floor.
On Friday, Khelif had been crowned Olympic champion in the welterweight division against Yang Liu from China and subsequently felt great satisfaction. The 25-year-old said that her success was also a response to the campaign against her: "This is my response, I am a strong woman."
"Let them talk"
There was a heated debate about Khelif and Lin's right to compete, which went far beyond the question of sporting fairness and left a socio-politically heated atmosphere in its wake. "Let them talk. I have a clear conscience in this matter," Lin told the Taiwanese television station CNA during the games.
Both boxers were excluded from the 2023 World Championships by the IBA, which is no longer recognized by the International Olympic Committee, following gender tests that have not yet been clarified. According to the IBA, they would have had "competitive advantages compared to other female participants".
The IOC called it an "arbitrary decision without due process" and allowed Khelif and Lin to take part in Paris. One of the reasons given was that the gender stated in the passport is decisive for admission to competitions in many sports.
