Boxing moves closer to Olympic return at Los Angeles 2028

Taipei, Feb. 27 (CNA) Boxing, a sport in which Taiwan won three medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, has taken a crucial step toward returning to the 2028 Los Angeles Games following a recent decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The IOC announced Wednesday that its executive board had granted World Boxing -- which Taiwan's Chinese Taipei Boxing Association is now a member -- provisional recognition as the international federation governing the sport within the Olympic Movement.

The decision was based on an assessment of how World Boxing complies with sports and governance criteria, said the IOC, citing the organization's membership in the Alliance of Independent Recognized Members of Sport and its strong ties to national federations of Paris medalists.

World Boxing "has provided evidence that 62 percent of the boxers and 58 percent of the boxing medalists at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 are affiliated to National Federations that are [its members]," the IOC said regarding the 78-member organization.

The IOC move comes after the International Boxing Association (IBA) was stripped of its Olympic recognition by the IOC in 2023 due to governance and financial issues, leading to its exclusion from organizing boxing at the Games.

On the same day, Gennadiy Golovkin, chair of the World Boxing Olympic Commission, said the decision "demonstrates that our sport is on the right path."

"This decision brings us one step closer to our main goal -- preserving boxing at the Olympic Games," he was quoted as saying in a social media post by the organization.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the IOC has the final say on boxing's Olympic status, for which "there is no formal timeline."

"What we can say is that by provisionally recognizing World Boxing, the IOC acknowledges that it has made good progress in a number of areas and that it wants to see this continue and for World Boxing to show that it can implement and adhere to all of its policies in the way it operates and runs competitions," the sources told CNA.

One of Taiwan's major concerns now is World Boxing's policy on sex classification, which could impact Paris Olympic gold medalist Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷).

During the Paris Games, Lin, who competed in the women's 57-kilogram category, was falsely accused by IBA of being a transgender athlete exploiting a physical advantage, despite being born female and the IOC repeatedly affirming her eligibility.

In November 2024, Lin withdrew from the World Boxing Cup in the United Kingdom, apparently due to an eligibility dispute, although organizers later clarified that she was eligible under the current policy.

Acknowledging the complexities of gender classification in sports, a World Boxing spokesperson said that athlete safety is "absolutely paramount," and that the organization has tasked a working group within its Medical Committee with developing a formal policy on "Sex, Age and Weight."

On Thursday, Lan Kun-tian (藍坤田), an official from Taiwan's Sports Administration, told CNA that Taiwan met with World Boxing two days earlier. The meeting was attended by officials from the administration and the Chinese Taipei Boxing Association, as well as a doctor from Taiwan's national team.

"We hope World Boxing can announce related rules as soon as possible and that all rules comply with the IOC's fair, non-biased and inclusive principles. That's how you help the sport of boxing," Lan said, describing Taiwan's dialogue with World Boxing as "very smooth."