Lin Yu-ting advances to gold medal fight as another opponent makes ‘X’ gesture in Olympics gender controversy

Lin Yu-ting could be taking gold home from Paris after a gender controversy has consumed most of her Olympic experience.

The boxer from Taiwan will win at least a silver medal after defeating Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey in one of the women’s 57-kilogram semifinal matches.

Despite an aggressive strategy from Yildiz Kahraman with several combinations to hopefully gain some advantage over the 5-foot-9 Yu-ting, it wasn’t enough.

Yu-ting went on to cruise to another dominant 5-0 victory for a shot at a gold medal.

Yildiz Kahraman, who will receive a bronze medal, repeated a previously used gesture to spoil the moment for the two-time Olympian.

Just as Svetlana Kamenova Staneva of Bulgaria did in the quarterfinal bout, Yildiz made two Xs with her index fingers, which seemingly referred to the symbols of female chromosomes, as Yu-Ting’s sex has been questioned throughout the games.

Yu-ting, along with Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who clinched a spot in the welterweight gold medal final, have been at the center of a gender identity clash throughout the Olympics.

Critics have questioned their gender after learning of the pair’s disqualification from the 2023 world championships for failing to pass gender eligibility tests and and were subsequently banned from the International Boxing Association (IBA).

IBA president Umar Kremlev said at the time that both athlete’s DNA tests “proved they had XY chromosomes.”

On Monday, the IBA secretary general Chris Roberts said that the IBA will not reveal those test results, but suggested “you can read between the lines what it means.”

However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has continuously defended the boxers. The IOC holds different eligibility tests and has also banned the IBA from the Olympics.

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“The Algerian boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, and has a female passport,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said of Khelif.

IOC President Thomas Bach stood up to say that the IOC will not be involved in a “culture war.”

“What is going on in this context, in the social media with all this hate speech, with this aggression and abuse, and fueled by this agenda, is totally unacceptable,” he added.

However, athletes and outsiders have continued to question the two boxers, which has put a tarnish on their Olympics experience.

“I have received many messages of support from my country and from people in Paris. I thank them,” Yu-Ting said after the quarterfinal fight with the Xs gesture. “But I have not been able to read them because I have shut down my social media.”

The women’s 57g gold medal bout is set for Saturday, Aug. 10 at 3:30 p.m. ET.