At the 2024 Olympic Games held in Paris, Turkish national boxer Esra Yıldız Kahraman faced Taiwanese boxer Yu Ting Lin in the women’s 57 kg semi-final. At the end of the competition, the Taiwanese boxer defeated our national athlete Esra Yıldız Kahraman and managed to advance to the finals.
During the match, Yu Ting Lin’s unsportsmanlike behavior drew attention. In particular, Lin’s punches to the back of our national athlete’s neck when he turned his back were met with a huge backlash on social media. Although it is strictly forbidden to hit the back of the neck in boxing because it can cause paralysis or death, it was noteworthy that the Taiwanese boxer was not given any punishment despite violating this rule. The referee only gave Yu Ting Lin a warning.
It is also known that Taiwanese boxer Lin failed gender tests. The International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified Lin from last year’s world championships because she was biologically male. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed both Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwanese Yu Ting Lin to compete in the women’s category in Paris, citing claims that these tests were unreliable.
