TAIPEI – Olympic gold medalist boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan has decided not to compete in the upcoming world championships in Liverpool. This decision comes amidst an ongoing gender controversy that has been at the center of the sport since the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The decision was confirmed by Taiwan’s boxing association, which said it had submitted Lin’s required gender test results to World Boxing but had not received a response. The association stated, “We cannot allow the athlete to travel to the UK without any guarantee.” World Boxing, the sport’s new governing body, has introduced a mandatory genetic test for all female competitors.

Lin and her Algerian counterpart, Imane Khelif, were both at the center of a gender eligibility dispute at the Paris Games. Both athletes were cleared to compete by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after being previously excluded from the 2023 world championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA). The IOC had stated they were “victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA.”

Source Citation: This article is based on reporting from Al Jazeera, originally titled “Gender-row Olympic boxer Lin won’t compete at world championships.”