he second boxer at the center of a global debate over gender eligibility and fairness at the Paris Olympics won her semifinal match Wednesday, ascending to the featherweight gold medal bout.
Lin Yu-ting, representing Chinese Taipei, defeated Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey by a unanimous decision, advancing to the final round of the women’s 57-kilogram competition Saturday.
Lin and another female Olympic boxer, Imane Khelif of Algeria, continue to face intense scrutiny and false accusations about their gender and eligibility to compete with women.
After she lost Wednesday night, Kahraman made the sign of an X with her fingers, which mirrored the actions of Bulgarian fighter Svetlana Staneva, who also lost to Lin earlier in the competition.
The Bulgarian Olympic Committee later confirmed that Staneva was boasting about having XX chromosomes in an attempt to mock Lin.
Representatives for the Turkish Olympic Committee could not immediately be reached for comment late Wednesday, but in a social media they posting declared Kahraman to be the real winner.
After she won Wednesday night, Lin made passing reference to the ongoing issue and said she's blocking it out by focusing on details of the next bout.
“Take it one step at a time, focus on each match, seize every opportunity in the ring and aim for victory until the end,” Lin told reporters.
mane Khelif, the Algerian boxer at the center of political controversy over participation in women's sports, will compete for the Olympic gold medal in women's boxing.
Algeria's Imane Khelif celebrates in the ring.
Away from Paris, criticism has erupted over the past week around Khelif's participation in the Olympics amid claims that she failed two gender eligibility tests administered by a boxing federation — tests that Olympic officials have dismissed as \"illegitimate\" as they have defended her participation.
But in the stands of Roland-Garros Stadium, dozens of Algerian flags hung over the seats, as hundreds of men and women dressed in green and red cheered raucously for Khelif.
Over three rounds in the ring Tuesday, Khelif traded blows with her opponent, Thailand's Janjaem Suwannapheng, in the 66kg weight class semifinal. With her win (a unanimous decision by the five judges), Khelif is set to compete Friday in the gold medal match, in which she will face China's Yang Liu.
\"I don’t care about criticism. I care about competition. God willing, I will perform well in the final,\" Khelif told reporters after Tuesday's bout. \"I will do everything I can to make it enjoyable to watch around the world.\"
After the official raised her hand to declare her victory, Khelif danced joyfully in the ring as Algerian fans roared their approval.
The political controversy around Khelif that erupted over the past week centers on a decision last year by the International Boxing Association to disqualify her and another female boxer from some competitions by claiming that they had failed two unspecified gender eligibility tests. The second boxer, Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, is also competing in the Olympics.
Khelif, 25, is a woman and has competed for years in women's boxing, in which she has accumulated a typical record of wins and losses against her female competition.
Side-by-side photos of Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting and Algeria's Imane Khelif, in their respective blue and red boxing uniforms.
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