Lin Yu-ting shuts out noise to claim controversial gold in women’s boxing

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Lin Yu-ting insisted she had paid no attention to the furore surrounding her eligibility to compete at the Olympics after she controversially became the second boxer previously banned for failing a sex test to win gold in Paris.
A day after Algeria’s Imane Khelif claimed the 66kg title, Chinese Taipei fighter Lin comprehensively defeated Poland’s Julia Szeremeta, whose face was left smeared in blood by the end of their 57kg final showdown.
The result will do nothing to quell the storm that overshadowed the Olympic boxing competition after it emerged that Lin and Khelif had both been kicked out of last year’s World Championships before being allowed to compete in Paris.
A number of high-profile sports figures questioned their involvement, with tennis great Martina Navratilova angrily responding to Khelif’s win on Friday night by saying: “Thanks for nothing IOC [International Olympic Committee]. Shame on you. This is a travesty.”
On Saturday, it emerged that Khelif had filed a legal case against the “misogynistic, racist and sexist” cyber bullying she had experienced during the Paris Games.
Unlike her Algerian counterpart, Lin largely kept her counsel throughout the controversy, opting against making bold public statements.
Asked how she dealt with all the criticism, she replied: “As an elite athlete during the competition it’s important to shut myself off from social media and focus. Some of the noise, or some of the news articles, of course I heard some of the information through my coach. But I didn’t pay too much attention to it.
“I was invited by the IOC to participate in the Games. This is what I focused on. As for the other issues, I relied on my coach to answer the questions.”
Lin had not lost a round in any of her previous bouts and completed the clean sweep of perfect scorecards with a dominant victory over Szeremeta. Exploiting the long range that her gangly frame provides, Lin kept her Polish opponent at bay throughout and inflicted visible damage to Szeremeta’s face.
Two of Lin’s earlier opponents had protested her inclusion at these Games by crossing their fingers in the ring to form an “XX” sign immediately after suffering their defeats, in reference to female chromosomes. In contrast, Szeremeta accepted the defeat in good grace, embracing her opponent and forming a love heart symbol with her hands.
However, the Polish far-right Confederation party she represented in local elections earlier this year re-posted a number of derogatory comments about Lin on social media immediately after the final. Szeremeta declined to comment on them when asked.
Double world champion Lin was disqualified from last year’s World Championships after the International Boxing Association (IBA) ruled that she had failed gender eligibility tests. The IBA has since been stripped of its rights to govern global boxing.
The IOC has acknowledged it was warned in writing more than a year ago that Khelif and Lin had the DNA of a “male”. But it has disputed the validity of the tests conducted by the IBA, suggesting they were not reliable.
It’s 3:30 a.m. here in Taiwan, but about two thousand are still awake at New Taipei City Hall, according to the city government, watching the Olympic boxing livestream as Taiwanese athlete Lin Yu-ting goes head-to-head with her Polish rival in the 57kg final for the gold medal pic.twitter.com/wIYH1vVRiF
Gold for Lin Yu-ting. Wins every round by every judge. And so two fighters deemed ineligible for the female category only last year take Olympic titles in women’s boxing. The Games where ideology trumped biology.
Taking the bout 10-9 from all five judges in all three rounds, essentially 150-135. 
Whatever the truth behind the IAB’s ruling and the accuracy and worth of the tests, Lin’s advantage over her young rival in that final was based on reach, skill and nous. 
By unanimous decision.
 
Szeremeat now goes looking for the stoppage and raises her guard, walks forward and lands a couple of big blows, a roundhouse of a left hook connecting. Lin bloodies her opponent’s nose with a rasping uppercut but Szeremeta keeps coming forward.
With a minute to go, Lin tries to make the ring as big as possible. The title is in her grasp and she starts to retreat from risky, using her superior range. 
Lin evades a few thrusts and that’s that. She’ll take gold by a wide margin. 
Julia Szeremeta lands a couple of glancing bows but has to eat a couple of big shots as she comes in close. She’s good at evading Lin’s longer punches but this is a mismatch in experience, height and technique as well as anything else. Szeremeta, the shorter fighter, can’t get her feet close enough together on the inside to put her full strength and weight into the punch. 
Again I’d be surprised if that wasn’t score 10-9 by all five judges. 
Szeremeta starts characteristically with low hands, dancing. She is elusive but not landing much as Lin tags her on the side of the head with a couple of jabs. Szeremeta gets off a couple of combos, coming under the reach to land a hook. With a minute to go Lin lands a big right hand but Szeremeta is smiling.
Then Lin pins her with two straight big rights. Enough to win the round as Lin switches to southpaw and wrestles Szeremeta into the corner against the post. 
I’m sure that round is Lin’s. She should have all five judges there. 
Yes, all five judges give it to Lin 10-9
Szeremeta is bouncing with joy as the Canadian referee gives out his instructions. 
She’s the first ever Polish woman to win a boxing medal having already guaranteed silver. 
With France’s Rio gold medal-winning Tony Yoka with ‘le trois coups’ of the stick. Out come the fighters, Lin in red, Julia Szeremeta in blue. 
A stark contrast at Roland Garros between last night’s fight involving Imane Khelif and this one featuring Lin Yu-ting. Yesterday the stadium was absolutely heaving with screaming Algerian fans, while there was barely a spare seat in the press tribune. Tonight Court Philippe-Chatrier is more than half empty and the few journalists here can sit wherever they like. I guess it pays to be the second of the controversial female boxers to fight in a final rather than the first. Lin has largely flown under the radar in comparison to her Algerian counterpart Khelif.
And we will be straight into the featherweight title bout at 8.30pm. Lin Yu-ting is shown doing pad work while Julia Szeremeta is dancing. 
Julia Szeremeta is 20 years old and fights out of Lublin. Her amateur record stands at 33-9 and she defeated Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines in the semi-final. All eyes are on Lin, for obvious reasons, but Szeremeta is a disruptive fighter. She likes to drop her hands, lead with her chin to try to goad her opponents into opening up and sometimes likes to hop in the air before she throws a punch. 
“There’s no point talking about the silver medal. I’m going for the gold,” she said after winning the semi-final. “I’m not afraid of anyone; I don’t feel respect. I go out and do my thing. I can’t wait for the final. Another win gives me confidence, and I don’t feel any stress.”
They have only just opened the gates at Roland-Garros where the Paris 2024 boxing competition could end with yet more controversy on the final night of action. Yesterday, Imane Khelif departed with a gold medal and tonight it is the turn of Lin Yu-ting to fight for an Olympic title. Remember, both women were disqualified from last year’s World Championships for failing gender tests, but have been allowed to compete here in Paris. Last night was a raucous affair with hundreds of Algerians partying before, during and after Khelif’s victory. Tonight appears far more sedate and I’m not anticipating that there will be too many Chinese Taipei fans inside the Court Philippe-Chatrier to cheer Lin on in her 57kg final against Poland’s Julia Szeremeta. That is the first fight of the night at 8.30pm BST.
Good evening and welcome to live coverage of the women’s featherweight final bout from the 2024 Paris Olympics, featuring the No 1 seed Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan and Julia Szeremeta who is Poland’s first boxing finalist for 44 years. Lin, a double world champion at bantamweight and featherweight, was, as you know lest you have been sleeping under a rock, disqualified by the International Boxing Association and stripped of her bronze medal at last year’s championships after failing what the discredited former sanctioning body called an unspecified but “separate and recognised test, whereby the specifics remain confidential”, which, it says, showed the presence of XY chromosomes.
Imane Khelif, who won gold on Friday night, was similarly barred but their eligibility was approved by the IOC which disputes the reliability of the tests and whether they were undertaken judiciously and credibly.
It’s been a mess from the start and the two boxers have been unfairly vilified for what are purported to be biological differences, as yet unproven, victims of the war between the IBA and the International Olympic Committee. At a chaotic press conference staged by the former governing body in Paris last week, the IBA failed to provide any concrete evidence of the testing process or results.
“This is not a question of inclusion. This is a question of justice,” the IOC president Thomas Bach said on Friday. “This is not as easy as some in this cultural war may now want to portray it. If somebody is presenting us a scientifically solid system how to identify men and women, we are the first ones to do it. We do not like this uncertainty.
“What is not possible is someone saying ‘this is not a woman’ just by looking at somebody or by falling prey to a defamation campaign by a not credible organisation with highly political interests.”
“This has no impact on our very clear position,” Bach said. “Women have the right to participate in women’s competitions. And the two are women.”