Boxer Lin reaches final amid eligibility row

Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting secured a place in Saturday’s Olympic women’s featherweight final amid the ongoing controversy over her eligibility.

Lin and Imane Khelif are competing in Paris despite being disqualified from last year’s World Championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA) after reportedly failing gender eligibility tests.

After Khelif secured her place in the welterweight final on Tuesday, 28-year-old Lin reached her own gold-medal match with another comprehensive, unanimous decision victory as she overcame Esra Yildiz Kahraman.

As she left the ring, the 27-year-old from Turkey made the same ‘X’ sign with two fingers as Lin’s previous opponent, Svetlana Staneva.

Kahraman first held the ropes open for Lin, then returned to the centre of the ring and made the symbol with two of her fingers, turning around to present it to all areas of the crowd.

Staneva’s ‘X’ was reportedly said to have symbolised female XX chromosomes.

Kahraman did not speak to BBC Sport after the fight. One of her team said “no comment” when asked by the media about the meaning of the gesture.

Lin will meet 20-year-old Pole Julia Atena Szeremeta, who beat Tokyo silver medallist Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines, in the biggest bout of her career on Saturday.

“I feel very excited and one step closer to my final goal,” Lin told BBC Sport.

Lin has won two golds medals at World Championships but has not contested an Olympic final, having lost in the last 16 to Petecio at the Tokyo Games.

At last year’s World Championships, Lin reached the semi-finals – thus securing a bronze medal – but was disqualified by the IBA.

The IBA said Lin had “failed to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition, as set and laid out” in its regulations.

But Lin and Algerian Khelif, who was disqualified from the same tournament, have been allowed to compete at the Olympics, which is run by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The IOC, which suspended the IBA in 2019 because of concerns over its finances, governance, ethics, refereeing and judging, has strongly backed Lin and Khelif, with president Thomas Bach saying there was “never any doubt” they are women.

The organisation said competitors were eligible for the women’s division if their passports said they were female, and a a chaotic news conference held on Monday did little to lessen the confusion around the IBA’s stance as key figures gave conflicting statements as to why the pair were banned.

Khelif fights Liu Yang of China for gold on Friday at 21:51 BST. Lin’s bout will open the final night of boxing at the Paris Olympics at 20:30 on Saturday.