Boxing gender eligibility controversy unfolds in Paris

PARIS – A second Olympic boxer at the middle of controversy over gender eligibility stepped contained in the ring on the Paris Games on Friday.

Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan won her opening bout in the ladies’s competition as the difficulty of gender and eligibility criteria continued to generate anger and confusion. Capitalizing on her length and quickness, the 5-foot-10 Lin beat Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova on points by unanimous decision.

Lin and Imane Khelif of Algeria were disqualified from the 2023 world championships for reportedly failing gender eligibility criteria at an event run by the International Boxing Association (IBA).

But this week the IOC said the boxers met criteria to compete on the Paris Games and identified each boxers participated within the Tokyo Games in 2021. The IOC said the 2 boxers were victims of arbitrary decisions by the IBA, which disqualified Lin and Khelif after they won medals on the 2023 world championships.

For at the least three rounds of boxing Friday, the main focus returned to the ring as Lin took on Turdibekova.

A couple of minute into the primary round, Lin’s headgear got here off during an exchange together with her opponent, revealing her hair to be in a bun atop her head. After her coach got Lin’s headgear back on, the fight resumed and Lin showed more aggression, smothering the 5-6 Ubekistani with punches and winning the round on the cardboard of 4 of the five judges.

Turdibekova caught Lin with a solid right within the second round, and Lin responded with a barrage of punches and won the round on the cards of all five judges.

Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting (in red) fights against Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova in the ladies’s 57kg preliminaries round of 16 boxing match in the course of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on the North Paris Arena, in Villepinte on August 2, 2024. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Lin didn’t stop to confer with reporters after the fight. Nor did Turdibekova, who was in tears after the bout.

When it ended, it the consequence was decisive: only a one judge awarded a single round to the Uzbekstani fighter.

Outrage flared Thursday when Khelif won her opening bout within the welterweight division at 146 kilos. She landed only a single punch – to the face of Italy’s Angela Carini, who quit 46 seconds into the fight.

The consequence and scene, with Carini weeping contained in the ring and after the fight, triggered a storm of concern online. Jake Paul, an honorary coach for the U.S. Olympic boxing team, called the situation “sickening” in a post on his X account.

That is sickening. It is a travesty.

Doesn’t matter what you suspect. That is flawed and dangerous. https://t.co/mddORfaK2D

— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) August 1, 2024

Yehlif is scheduled to fight Saturday against Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori within the quarterfinals.

Lin is scheduled to fight Sunday against Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva within the quarterfinals.

For complete coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics, visit USA TODAY Sports.