The ongoing gender controversy surrounding this year’s Olympic Games in Paris is far from over.
Lin Yu-ting, a fighter from Taiwan who was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships after she failed an unspecified gender eligibility test, cruised to the quarterfinals of the featherweight division with a decisive decision win over Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova on Friday.
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The gender eligibility test was the same one the International Boxing Associated administered to Imane Khelif, a female fighter out of Algerian who—like Yu-ting—was barred from competing at last year’s World Championships. Khelif earned a 46-second TKO after her opponent, Italy’s Angela Carini, threw in the towel citing an issue with her nose.
The win for Khelif resulted in a flood of comments from misinformed social media users accusing her of being a transgender female. The truth is, Khelif is a biological female and always has been.
According to Endocrinologist Gianluca Aimaretti, Khelif “could have been born with a congenital disease that caused a disorder of sexual differentiation,” which could explain why tests administered by the IBA produced XY (male) chromosome results instead of XX (female) for Khelif.
Per the National Cancer Institute, XY gonadal dysgenesis, also known as Swyer Syndrome, is a rare genetic condition in which people who have an X chromosome and a Y chromosome look female. They have normal female reproductive organs, including a uterus, fallopian tubes, and vagina.
The IOC Continues to Stand By Its Decision to Allow Controversial Boxers to Compete in 2024 Olympic Games
Despite the IBA’s disqualification of both athletes last year, the International Olympic Committee cleared Khelif and Yu-ting to compete in Paris after the IOC parted ways with the IBA over growing concerns regarding the organization’s finances, governance, ethics, refereeing, and judging.
The IOC has since defended its decision to allow both female fighters to compete in this year’s Paris Games.
“We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” the IOC wrote in a statement. “The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships, and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.
“These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.”
This is TPE Taiwan’s boxer Lin Yu-Ting 林郁婷, who’s born female, grew up as a girl, and now competing in women’s boxing.
She’s a wonderful example to young boxers, and I hope people can focus on her instead of on the transphobes. pic.twitter.com/Trm0QcaMYD
— Nicole 🦇| Godless Entity (@WestenrasKiss) August 1, 2024
New Taipei City Councilor Cho Kuan-ting confirmed in a Facebook post on Wednesday that Lin Yu-ting was registered as female at birth and her national identification number begins with a “2,” the designation for females, while males are assigned a “1.” Per the Hsinchu City Government, the designation cannot be altered.
According to a report from Taiwan News, the 28-year-old boxer has been competing against females since middle school. The first time transgender middle and high school athletes have been allowed to compete was in Taiwan’s National High School Games in 2023.
