Olympic gender-row boxer Lin Yu-ting controversially romped to victory on her return to the ring on Tuesday night, knocking out a 19-year-old female university student in just 94 seconds.
Lin, 29, won gold in the women’s featherweight division during last year’s Paris Olympics, despite being disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for failing a gender eligibility test.
Prior to Tuesday, the Taiwanese boxer had not returned to the ring at international events since winning gold in Paris, which sparked a huge gender row over disputed sex tests.
World Boxing introduced mandatory genetic sex testing for all boxers aged over 18 in August, in an effort to better determine eligibility for its competitions.
The decision has seen Lin and fellow gender row boxer Imane Khelif, who also won gold at the Paris Games in the welterweight category, undergo extended periods away from the ring.
However, thanks to domestic rules at Taiwan’s National Games, Lin was permitted to compete in the women’s 60kg division and stormed past the first round with incredible ease.
According to reports in Taiwan, Lin knocked out 19-year-old opponent Pan Yan-fei just 94 seconds into the opening round after the young boxer became ‘subjected to several head shots and appeared short of breath’.
The result was recorded as ‘abandoned’ after Pan’s coach threw in the towel, prompting the referee to stop the bout.
Pan, a youth-level boxer representing National Taipei University of Technology Affiliated Taoyuan Agricultural & Industrial Senior High School, was making her first appearance at a senior event after previously competing in Taiwan’s U22 category. She also won a national high-school title in 2023.
Her medical condition was described as stable after the 94-second knockout defeat, while no medical statement was issued after the fight.
After the match, Lin’s coach Tseng Tzu-chiang described the bout as ‘routine’ and chose not to comment on regulatory matters.
Meanwhile, Lin also batted away questions about gender eligibility and said that she is ‘still adjusting to the 60-kilogram weight class’.
While Lin takes advantage of domestic rules in Taiwan, Khelif is seeking legal action against World Boxing’s rules, which ban her from competing unless she can prove she is biologically female.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport confirmed Khelif had lodged an appeal against mandatory sex tests on August 5.
Both Lin and Khelif, who plan to defend their gold medals at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, missed the world championships in Liverpool last month — the first event staged by World Boxing since it replaced the International Boxing Association earlier this year.
By triumphing at the Taiwan National Games, an event known officially as the National Games of the Republic of China and held every two years, Lin would earn her seventh successive title in women’s boxing.
