Lin Yu-ting sets sights on Asian Games after return in new weight class

Ulaanbaatar: Taiwanese Olympic champion Lin Yu-ting is targeting gold at this year’s Asian Games after moving up a weight category and claiming bronze in her first tournament since the Paris Olympics, according to her coach Tseng Tzu-chiang.

Lin, who won the 57kg gold medal at the 2024 Olympics, was cleared by World Boxing last month to resume competition at the Asian Elite Championships in Ulaanbaatar after passing a gender test. Competing in the 60kg division, she advanced to the semi-finals before losing to North Korea’s Won Un Gyong.

Tseng told AFP that Lin would now pursue a second Asian Games title in Japan later this year after what he described as a breakthrough return to competition. Lin had previously won the 57kg category at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

“Changing weight class is inherently a challenge. Having new competitors is a great way to challenge yourself,” Tseng told AFP in a phone interview from Ulaanbaatar. “It’s definitely a fantastic opportunity because we’ve never encountered any opponents in this weight class before. It’s a breakthrough.”

Return after eligibility scrutiny

World Boxing’s medical committee, under the governing body recognised by the International Olympic Committee, cleared the 30-year-old boxer to return to the ring last month.

Tseng said the move to a new division and the long gap away from top-level competition had made the comeback demanding. “It’s a new weight class and she hasn’t been able to compete on the stage for a long time,” he said. “Of course, the gender test is also a challenge and now that we’ve passed that hurdle, we’ll focus on doing our best in the Asian Games.”

Lin and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif were at the centre of a gender-eligibility dispute during the 2024 Paris Olympics, where both won gold medals in different weight classes. The pair had earlier been barred from the International Boxing Association’s 2023 world championships after failing eligibility tests.

The IOC allowed them to compete in Paris, saying they had been victims of “a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA”. World Boxing later introduced a policy requiring boxers seeking to compete in the women’s category to undergo a one-off genetic test.

Lin was tested last year, but World Boxing did not disclose the results. She missed the world championships in September after reportedly failing to receive a response from the governing body. Taiwan’s boxing association then began an appeal process and submitted medical documents to World Boxing for review by its medical committee.

In March, Lin was cleared to compete “in the female category at World Boxing competitions,” according to a statement by World Boxing secretary general Tom Dielen.

Next events lined up

Tseng said the process had taken considerable time. “We spent a lot of effort communicating and coordinating with World Boxing and the IOC to define the gender test policy, which took a lot of time,” he said. “When we found out we could compete, there were less than two weeks left (before the tournament). We were prepared but our overall condition wasn’t perfect.”

According to Tseng, Lin’s next event will be the World Boxing Cup in Guiyang, China, in June. After that, she is set to train in South Korea as part of her preparations for the Asian Games in September.