Taiwan's Lin not considering world champs pullout despite mandatory sex testing
TAIPEI :Lin Yu-ting, one of two boxers at the centre of a gender dispute at last year's Paris Olympics, has no plans to skip the world championships in Liverpool, her coach Tseng Tzu-chiang told Reuters on Thursday.
On Wednesday, governing body World Boxing announced that women boxers at next month's world championships will have to undergo mandatory sex testing, as part of a new eligibility policy.
The policy comes just over a year after Taiwan's Lin and Algerian Imane Khelif both won gold in Paris amid a gender-eligibility row.
"Lin Yu-ting just returned from training in South Korea and we are waiting for notification from the Taiwan boxing governing body for signup details while preparing for the 2025 Boxing World Championships," Tseng said.
"She has not considered withdrawing from the competition because of the new gender tests. We will submit all the relevant documents requested by the organisers, as part of normal procedures."
World Boxing, which will oversee boxing competitions in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after being granted provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), announced plans for testing in May.
"The policy is designed to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women," the body said in a statement on Wednesday.
Women boxers will undergo PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests using a nasal or mouth swab, saliva or blood, to check for the presence of the Y chromosome, World Boxing added. Men have an X and Y chromosome, while women have two X chromosomes.
FAIRNESS
"World Boxing respects the dignity of all individuals and is keen to ensure it is as inclusive as possible," said the body's president Boris van der Vorst.
"Yet in a combat sport like boxing, we have a duty of care to deliver safety and competitiveness (and) fairness, which are the key principles that have guided the development and creation of this policy."
The world championships will take place from September 4 to 14 and are the first to be organised by World Boxing since it replaced the International Boxing Association (IBA) earlier this year.
World Boxing's initial announcement of the sex testing plans mentioned Khelif by name, saying she would not be allowed to compete until she did a test.
Van der Vorst later apologised, saying her privacy should have been protected.
Khelif had been due to compete in a World Boxing tournament in the Netherlands in June, but decided to skip it shortly after the body announced plans to introduce sex testing.
The 26-year-old has repeatedly said she was born a woman and in March said she would defend her title at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
On Wednesday, Khelif, who has not competed since her win in Paris, denied claims made by her former manager that she has retired from the sport.
"It is based solely on statements made by a person who no longer represents me in any way, and whom I consider to have betrayed my trust and my country with his false and malicious statements," she wrote on Facebook.
