Lin cleared for boxing return after sex test
Olympic champion Lin Yu-ting has been cleared to fight in the women's category by World Boxing after undergoing the governing body's new sex test. The 30-year-old won women's featherweight gold for Chinese Taipei at the 2024 Olympics in Paris but, alongside Algeria's welterweight champion Imane Khelif, became embroiled in an eligibility row . Both Lin and Khelif had been disqualified from the 2023 World Championships by previous world governing body the International Boxing Association (IBA), which said they had "failed to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in women's competition".
The IBA was later stripped of its status by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over integrity and governance issues, and the IOC ran boxing competitions at the Paris Games. Since the 2024 Olympics, World Boxing has taken over the governance of the sport at Olympic level from the IBA and introduced a new eligibility policy in August 2025 that includes mandatory sex testing . World Boxing has confirmed that Lin, who has missed a number of competitions since the policy was introduced, would now be eligible to compete at its events.
Lin follows Khelif by winning gold amid controversy World Boxing said that an appeal process initiated by the Chinese Taipei Boxing Association (CTBA) on behalf of Lin, and conducted in line with its mandatory sex testing, had been completed. The test is used to detect a specific gene which World Boxing said "reveals the presence of the Y chromosome that is an indicator of male biological sex". World Boxing's policy includes an appeal process so boxers that screen positive for the SRY gene can lodge an appeal and provide supporting evidence.
The body said following an initial test in 2025, the CTBA began the appeal process and submitted a series of medical documents. "The World Boxing Medical Committee considered and evaluated the medical documentation presented and determined that the boxer was deemed to be female and eligible to compete in the female category," it said. Tom Dielen, secretary general of World Boxing, added: "We recognise that this has been a difficult period for the boxer and the CTBA, and appreciate the way they have approached the appeal process and their acknowledgement of World Boxing's requirement to ensure that its eligibility policy, which is designed to deliver safety and sporting integrity, has been correctly implemented and followed.
" The CTBA said in a statement: "This is a tremendous relief for Lin Yu-ting. "We are pleased that World Boxing's independent medical experts thoroughly reviewed all evidence and confirmed that she has been female since birth, meeting the requirements, with no competitive advantage, and ensuring her rightful place in the women's category. "We recognise World Boxing's responsibility to uphold safety and fairness in competition, and we appreciate the professional and rigorous manner in which this matter was handled.