Lin Yu-Ting has been on the receiving end of a lot of hate this past week, as she was one of two boxers banned from competing at the World Boxing Championships last year because, according to the IBA (which the IOC no longer recognizes due to corruption among others) had both X and Y chromosomes.
It didn’t get any less after she secured an Olympic medal in featherweight on Sunday.
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“Is not equal”
She did so after knocking out her Bulgarian opponent Svetlana Kamenova Staneva.
As the Bulgarian thanked the audience, she gestured with her fingers, crossing them to form an X, which she showed twice. According to the Bulgarian newspaper 24 Chase she also, in English, shouted.
– XY chromosomes are nothing to me.
In interviews after the match, she was clear about what she thought about the situation.
– I do not agree with what is happening. I think that some of the athletes have a physical superiority over the others, and it is not equal. That’s my opinion, she said, later adding:
– I said the truth would come out, and here it is. No matter what you do, it is very difficult to win in a situation like this.
The Bulgarian national team coach Borislav Georgiev was even clearer with his opinion. He had a note in the mixed zone (where interviews are done) on which he wrote in English “I am XX. Save women’s sports!”.
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This has happened in the gender debate that is shaking the Olympics in Paris Photo: Bildbyrån