Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting wins first Olympic medal amid outrage over gender misunderstanding

VILLEPINTE, France — Boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan won her first Olympic medal on Sunday in front of a crowd chanting her name at the Paris Games, a day after fellow boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria also won her first medal following days of online abuse and heightened scrutiny over her participation.

Lin defeated Bulgarian Svetlana Kamenova Staneva in the women’s 57 kg quarterfinals, earning her second straight unanimous decision victory and advancing to the semifinals of that weight class, ensuring she would win at least a bronze medal.

Lin and Khelif have been at the centre of a row over gender identity and rules in the sport, with critics pointing to their disqualification from world championships last year after the banned International Boxing Federation found they had failed unspecified qualifying tests for women’s competitions.

Lin defeated Sitara Turdibekova of Uzbekistan 5-0 in her first fight.

Before the semi-final pairings are determined on Sunday, there will be two more quarter-final fights in the women’s 57 kg weight class.