Sex-disputed boxer Lin Yu-ting may not have a future in women’s events under World Boxing’s new sex-testing regimen, but the athlete was off to a fast start at the Taiwan National Games.
Lin, 29, won her first-round match in the women’s lightweight category Monday against 19-year-old Pan Yan-Fei, whose coach stopped the fight after just 1 minute, 34 seconds following several blows to the head.
Pan was “a little breathless because of being hit on the head. Then Pan Yanfei’s coach threw in the towel and gave up the game,” as reported by Taiwan’s CNA news outlet. “After the match, Lin Yuting kept a low profile and declined to be interviewed.”
The match represented the first time Lin has competed since winning gold in the women’s featherweight category at the 2024 Paris Games, spurring calls for an overhaul of international boxing’s eligibility rules for female competitors.
World Boxing announced in May that fighters will be required to undergo a PCR test, which is conducted via cheek swabs or blood tests. Only athletes with no Y chromosome will be permitted to compete in women’s events.
The newly implemented policy came after Lin and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won Olympic gold medals in their weight classes despite previously being declared ineligible for the women’s category by the International Boxing Association.
World Boxing has since replaced the IBA as the Olympics-recognized governing body for the sport.
Neither Lin nor Khelif competed in last month’s World Boxing Championship under the new sex-testing regimen. Khelif has appealed the rule-change to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Lin is seeking a sixth consecutive women’s boxing title at this week’s Taiwan National Games, known formally as the National Games of the Republic of China, an event held every two years.
The competition “does not have any known sex testing protocols in place,” according to Reduxx.
🚨Biologically male Olympic boxer Lin Yu-Ting has returned to the ring after being cleared to fight women at Taiwan’s National Games without a sex test.
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) October 21, 2025
Yesterday, his teenage rival abandoned the match in under 2 minutes, fearing for her safety.https://t.co/mRXfQsWvgh
Neither Lin nor Khelif identify as transgender.
Both are believed to have a Disorder of Sexual Development known as 46,XY in which children are born with ambiguous genitalia and often raised as girls, but have Y chromosomes and produce male-level testosterone.
The athletes have not commented on the speculation.
The U.S.-based Independent Council on Women’s Sports condemned Lin’s participation in the female category as a “blatant violation of fairness and, most importantly, a grave safety risk to female opponents.”
“Eligibility policies must clearly define that the women’s category is reserved for female athletes only. Rules mean nothing without enforcement,” Council spokesperson Marshi Smith told Reduxx.
“You wouldn’t verify a weight class without a scale, and you can’t claim to have a women’s division without verifying sex. In a boxing ring, this isn’t just an unfair competitive advantage, it is a potentially deadly one,” she said.
She added that “World Boxing got it right with its newly implemented sex screening protocols, and now national federations must follow its example.”
Lin won Olympic gold in the women’s featherweight category at 57kg, or 126 lbs., but has since moved up to the lightweight class at 60kg, or 132 lbs.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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