OLYMPICS/Boxer Lin Yu-ting makes history at Olympics, unfazed by gender row

Taipei, Aug. 8 (CNA) Boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) secured Team Taiwan's first-ever final berth in the sport at the Olympic Games on Wednesday with a 5-0 victory over Turkey's Esra Yildiz Kahraman despite unfounded accusations over her gender eligibility.

"I will definitely take the gold medal home," Lin, 28, said after punching her way to victory in the semifinal bout of the women's 57-kilogram division.

Yildiz Kahraman, who secured her Olympic spot at the 2nd World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok in early June, proved herself a formidable competitor by upsetting the No. 5 and No. 4 seeds in the round of 16 and quarterfinal stages, respectively.

However, the two-time world champion from Taiwan, 1.75 meters in height and taller than the Turkish pugilist by seven centimeters, capitalized on her longer reach to roll into the final bout as the first Taiwanese boxer to achieve that feat.

Three female Taiwanese boxers -- Huang Hsiao-wen (黃筱雯) in Tokyo and Wu Shih-yi (吳詩儀) and Chen Nien-chin (陳念琴) in Paris -- each lost fights in the semifinal stage. They nonetheless all secured medals for Team Taiwan since semifinal losers take home bronzes in Olympic boxing.

Tseng Tzu-chiang (曾自強), who has been coaching Lin for over 15 years, said the strategy for the semifinal was to avoid close fighting while staying aggressive.

This approach paid off.

After scoring five 10s in the first round, Lin faced more frequent attacks, with the two boxers trading around 20 punches after 15 seconds into the second round.

There were many times the Turkish boxer sought to stop Lin's attacks by holding the Taiwanese athlete's head in her armpit to force a clinch, but that did not prevent Lin from scoring another five 10s.

Given her absolute advantage, Lin appeared much more relaxed and calm in the last round, skillfully evading the 27-year-old Turkish boxer's offenses and delivering several uppercuts.

As Taiwan's ELTA TV's sportscaster Blue Wei (魏楚育) noted, Lin got better and better as she proceeded in the tournament, and even had a smile on her face in the third round.

After it was announced that Lin had won the fight, Yildiz Kahraman sat on the rope to open space for Lin's exit in an apparent display of respect for her opponent.

However, once Lin left the ring, the Turkish boxer stood up and crossed her index fingers to make an "X" sign, apparently to suggest that she has a pair of X chromosomes while Lin does not.

Lin was also subjected to the same derogatory gesture from Svetlana Staneva after the Bulgarian was defeated in the quarterfinal.

But Tseng, who told the press he is a good friend of Yildiz Kahraman's coach, said he believed the Turkish boxer accepted the result with all due respect. "Otherwise, she would not sit on the rope."

Also read: Boxing gender row stems from IBA, IOC dispute: USA Boxing head

Meanwhile, Lin showed respect to her opponent after the bout, thanking Yildiz Kahraman for "putting up a great show" for the world with her, according to Taiwanese sports media organization TSNA.

"Now I finally made it this far, after my experience in Tokyo of one bout and going home, I finally made it to the final," Lin said after her semifinal win.

"I will use all I have learned in my life and do my best in the next fight, hoping I can bring the gold medal home."

On Thursday (Taiwan time), New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) joined hundreds of Lin's supporters gathered at the New Taipei city government hall to watch a livestream of the event.

Hou called Lin "the daughter of Taiwan and daughter of New Taipei" and praised her for showing the world the strength and prowess of Taiwanese athletes.

"Bring home the gold medal on Aug. 11" and "shut everyone up", Hou said, referring to the controversy fueled by the International Boxing Association's questioning of the gender eligibility of Taiwan's Lin and Algeria's Imane Khelif. The Algerian has also secured a final berth in the women's 66 kg event.

On Friday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voiced its support for Lin and Khelif's participation at Paris 2024 and said that doubts over the gender eligibility of the athletes had been fueled by "misleading information."

Lin's mother, Liao Hsiu-lan (廖秀蘭), told reporters after the game that she had been unable to sleep over the past few days due to the controversy over her daughter's gender status.

"Her national identification number begins with a two [the designation for females]. There's nothing to question here," Liao said.

Lin, who was certified female at birth by a doctor, previously told local media organization TVBS that she took up boxing as a child because she wanted to protect her mother from domestic abuse.

Commenting on her daughter's rise in the sport, Liao said on Wednesday that Lin has a competitive, unyielding and independent personality.

Lin will face 2023 European U22 champion Julia Szeremeta of Poland in the final on Aug. 11.