Boxer Lin Yu-ting’s coach said the Taiwanese Olympic champion would aim for Asian Games gold after moving up in weight to win bronze in her first competition since the Paris Olympics.
Lin, who won the gold medal in 57 kg at the 2024 Gameswas cleared last month by World Boxing to resume competition at the Elite Asian Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, after passing a gender test.
She reached the semi-finals of the 60 kg class but lost to North Korea’s Won Un Gyong.
Her coach, Tseng Tzu-chiang, told AFP that Lin would aim for a second Asian Games gold in Japan later this year after her comeback “breakthrough” this week, having won the 57kg class in Hangzhou in 2023.
“Changing weight class is inherently a challenge. Having new competitors is a great way to challenge yourself,” Tseng told AFP in a telephone interview from Ulaanbaatar.
“It’s definitely a fantastic opportunity because we’ve never faced opponents in this weight class before.
“It’s a big breakthrough.”
The World Boxing Medical Committee, the governing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), last month finally cleared the 30-year-old Lin to return to the ring.
“It’s a new weight class and she hasn’t been able to compete on the stage for a long time,” Tseng said.
“Of course, the gender test is also a challenge and now that we have passed that hurdle, we will focus on doing our best at the Asian Games.”
Lin and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif were embroiled in a spat over gender eligibility at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where they won gold medals in separate weight classes.
Both had been banned from the 2023 International Boxing Association (IBA) world championships for failing fitness tests.
The IOC allowed them to compete in Paris, saying they had been victims of “an unexpected and arbitrary decision by the IBA”.
World Boxing then introduced a policy that fighters who want to compete in the women’s division must take a one-time genetic test.
Lin was tested last year, but World Boxing did not release the results. She lost the world championship in September after reportedly not receiving a response from World Boxing.
The Taiwan Boxing Association began an appeals process, submitting medical documents to World Boxing that were analyzed by its medical committee.
In March, she was finally allowed to compete “in the women’s category in world boxing competitions,” its general secretary, Tom Dielen, said in a statement.
Tseng said it had been a drawn-out process.
“We spent a lot of effort communicating and coordinating with World Boxing and the IOC to define the gender test policy, which took a lot of time,” he said.
“When we found out we could compete, there were less than two weeks left (before the tournament). We were prepared, but our overall condition wasn’t perfect.”
Lin will next compete in the World Boxing Cup in Guiyang, China, in June, Tseng added, before training in South Korea in preparation for September’s Asian Games.
