Chinese Taipei boxer Lin Yu-ting cannot hold back tears after edging into semi-finals
- Lin beats Bulgarian Svetlana Staneva in women’s 57kg category and says home support is carrying her to gold
Lin Yu-ting could not hold back the tears after beating Svetlana Staneva in the quarter-finals of the women’s 57kg category on Sunday, as the emotion of the past few days finally caught up with the Chinese Taipei boxer.
The 28-year-old, along with Algeria’s Imane Khelif, has been at the centre of a gender row at the Paris Olympics and refused to talk to the press after her previous bout.
Her opponent, meanwhile, was the same one she beat to bronze at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in March, before being stripped of her medal after reportedly failing an unspecified gender eligibility test.
And with just two wins standing between her and gold, the featherweight thanked her self-ruled island’s “entire population” for standing behind her in recent days.
“It wasn’t easy to have come this far,” she said. “As you could all see, it was a tough win as [Staneva] was a very respectable opponent.
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Chinese Taipei boxer Lin Yu-ting clinches first Olympic medal amid gender eligibility row
“Winning this bout certainly doesn’t mean I can relax, but rather I have to improve myself and do every step well until the [final] victory is achieved, and I complete my goal.”
