After Imane Khelif-Angela Carini fight, Taiwan leaders back boxer Lin Yu-ting in Olympic gender row

Taiwan's presidential office supports boxer Lin Yu-ting amid gender controversy at Paris Olympics, sparking global debate.

Taiwan's presidential office and former president on August 2 expressed support for Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting who has been embroiled in a row over gender at the Paris Olympic Games ahead of her opening bout.

"Let's cheer for Lin Yu-ting together," wrote Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan's first female president, who ran the island between 2016 and 2024, on her official Facebook page, adding that Lin was seeking victory for herself and honour for Taiwan.

Lin, 28, is one of two boxers, who were disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) from last year's World Champion­ships for failing gender eligibility tests but were given the green light to compete in the Paris Olympics.

The other boxer, Algeria's Imane Khelif, defeated Italy's Angela Carini in a women's welterweight bout on August 1, landing a series of heavy blows that prompted Carini to withdraw after 46 seconds.

The seeming mismatch and images of Carini sobbing in the ring afterwards, has fuelled a debate over gender and whether athletes with Differences of Sexual Development (DSD) should compete in women's sport.

British author J.K. Rowling, who has been outspoken on gender issues in the past, tweeted after the bout that the Paris Olympics had been "forever tarnished by the brutal injustice done to Carini."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), said it was saddened by the row, and that the pair were facing "aggression" because of an arbitrary decision.