Taiwanese Boxer Advances To Gold-Medal Olympic Bout Amid Gender Controversy

PARIS (AP) — Boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan has advanced to the gold-medal bout in the women’s featherweight division, winning her third consecutive bout while dealing with widespread scrutiny regarding misconceptions about her gender at the Paris Olympics.

One day after welterweight Imane Khelif of Algeria reached the women’s welterweight final with a third straight victory in Paris, Lin defeated Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey 5:0 on Wednesday night for her third win.

Lin will fight for gold on Saturday, taking on Julia Szeremeta of Poland.

“I will use everything I’ve learned in my life to do my best in the next match,” Lin said through an interpreter.

Lin and Khelif both have won every round in all three of their Olympic bouts despite the massive distractions created by the fallout from the Olympic-banished International Boxing Association’s decision last year to disqualify both fighters from the world championships for allegedly failing an eligibility test.

Both fighters have responded to this unwelcome spotlight by making two of the best tournament runs of their lengthy amateur careers. Just like Khelif, Lin has never been a dominant champion in her sport, but that hasn’t stopped many observers from casting both as unstoppable boxing machines during the Olympics because the IBA disqualified them last year.

In fact, the 28-year-old Lin is a veteran amateur boxer who won world championships in 2018 and 2022 during a solid decade in the top level of the sport. She has now bounced back from an opening-round exit in Tokyo to become a medal winner in Paris.

“The feeling of entering the gold-medal match is one of gratitude to myself for making it this far,” Lin said. “After going out in the first round of the Tokyo Olympics,