Boxer Lin Yu-ting cleared to return after gender eligibility ruling

[Wonderknicks]

Boxer Lin Yu-ting cleared to box
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/mar/21/olympic-champion-boxer-lin-yu-ting-cleared-to-return-to-ring-after-gender-ruling?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
Interesting last paragraph
Along with its appeal process, World Boxing said it offers additional analysis and evaluation for athletes with Y chromosome genetic material who wish to compete in the women’s categories, including genetic screening, hormonal profiles, anatomical examination and further evaluation of endocrine profiles by medical specialists.
Apologies if there is another thread, I couldn't see one.

This really is where the line has to be.

Is this person unambiguously female? Yes or no.

There's other categories for athletes who are not.

Has he even read the IOC policy?! They very explicitly deal with DSDs. 🙈

"transgender women athletes" as he describes it, is the issue right there.

There are women athletes.

There are other athletes.

This category he describes is an oxymoron at best.

There should not be a man punching a woman in the face, or out running or out lifting them and it being called sport.

To be fair, I wouldn't trust the Guardian to report this accurately.
Who cleared him, and won't he still have to have the cheek swab test the IOC has just introduced?

The real test will be if the IOC allow him to compete as a woman.

Ditto the Sky News reporter who wrote this article:
https://news.sky.com/story/if-women-must-stop-competing-so-be-it-semenyas-rallying-cry-over-olympics-transgender-athlete-ban-13525463

No balance, no depth, and asks questions so he can give unbalanced answers to them, giving a veneer of properly questioning Semenya and being familiar with the IOC policy.

Hopefully with a more consistent and reliable process in place, the focus won't be on individuals anymoe.

These videos might be interesting to some people reading along

ROSS TUCKER’S DISCUSSION ON ACTIVIST’S POINTS ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS AND CAIS TESTING

In this YouTube Short, Ross explains why the Human Rights objections to the IOC's Policy for Protection of Women's sport are so misguided. They seem not to appreciate that they're representing the rights of a group of males ahead of the rights of females to equality, safety, and fairness in sport. They also completely miss that the harms they are warning against are far worse without a universal screen-for-SRY and then test-for-advantage approach, and are hysterically and dishonesty portraying what women will experience and how women will benefit from the policy.

It goes with this tweet
^https://x.com/scienceofsport/status/2038606531386634714?s=46^
’The sky is falling as women are harmed - so say various Human Rights groups & people in response to the IOC's Policy to protect women's sport. Their views are misguided, uninformed & false. In this 15 min video, I explain what they get wrong & ignore:’

Then there is this video about testing for CAIS.

The IOC Policy, like those of other sports, says "No males in women's sport". But they make an exception - a condition called CAIS. This creates potential confusion, and even the possibility of a loophole that sports must be aware of to defend the integrity of women's sport. In this video, Ross explains how the SRY-screen would work, and how the test for advantage has to be held to a very high, rigorous and transparent standard, with a transparent technical document. He implores sports leaders to get this right, for the sake of the overall concept.

Link for the CAIS video mentioned by Helleofabore - just 1min 40secs

Has the IOC left a CAIS loophole in it's new policy?

Interesting. So there is no way to easily differentiate between CAIS and PAIS because they actually are on a spectrum.

It's possible to test patients' cells in vitro for androgen receptor expression and/or for the induction of androgen signalling by treatment with AR agonists. CAIS individuals (unlike, even, normal females) exhibit zero androgen signalling.

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep32819

In accordance, immunoprecipitation with a polyclonal anti-AR antibody-coupled to western blotting with a monoclonal anti-AR antibody showed no signs of the AR protein in the patient samples as opposed to ... the control samples. The functionality of androgen signaling in the cells was also tested by examining the ability of the AR agonist R1881 to induce the expression of the AR-target gene FKBP5, but ... the amount of the AR was not sufficient for any induction, whereas the induction was clearly detectable in the ... [positive control] cells....

I expect that they will work something out.

If there's a will...

Couple of updates:

1: Ross Tucker (Scienceofsport on X)has raised questions about how Lin was cleared - it seems like the Taiwan boxing federation raised the appeal, then did its own testing and presented the results to World Boxing:

I'm amazed that the World Boxing process here allows the Federation to run the appeal and detailed testing to establish this. An SRY positive should be followed up, but by an independent body, not an "appeal" by the national federation, it's totally upside down.

The policy should say that an SRY +ve initiates a series of detailed tests that are overseen by the Global body, with no involvement from the athlete's federation at all. Ideally, these tests would be done by one of a very select few global centers, accredited for this purpose.

Then, if at this stage there is still a dispute, you can facilitate an appeal, which should be done in the same way antidoping appeals are done. Here, you use one of the other testing centers, or maybe a few, to get more clinical opinion on the case. But the federation cannot be …

… asked to initiate and then produce the findings on appeal. This should be so obvious, it's astonishing it was done any other way, actually.

So raises the question of the reliability of these new results as not done by an impartial body.

2: Khelif was due to fight the German boxer Julia Igel on 23rd April, but has pulled out due to a shoulder injury. Quelle surprise! Allegedly ‘postponed’, but will this turn out to be a ‘career ending injury’?

www.espn.co.uk/boxing/story/_/id/48474671/imane-khelif-april-23-fight-postponed-due-injury

Surely it has been establsihed beyond doubt now that Khelif is male (even if the same cannot be said for Lin), so how can he be scheduled to fight another women? Am I missing something here?

Khelif hasn’t taken part in any World Boxing sanctioned amateur competitions, which requires sex testing, since the Olympics.

This was supposed to be Khelif’s professional debut. The French boxing authorities granted Khelif a pro licence without any further testing.

It seems that Julia Igel is in no doubt about Khelif’s sex:

German boxer Julia Igel has insisted she is not frightened of Olympic champion Imane Khelif, despite telling DW that she considers her Algerian opponent to be "male" amid questions over Khelif's eligibility for the female category.

Loved Igel’s coach’s comments:

While Igel still uses the pronoun "she" for Khelif, Ikram Kerwat, the German's coach and manager, is far more blunt.

"Ever since it came out that he has XY chromosomes, he has balls, he produces testosterone ... yes, it's a he," said Kerwat, a four-time world champion.

amp.dw.com/en/imane-khelifs-first-pro-opponent-im-not-scared/a-76713492

A medical examination carried out Monday revealed “a painful syndrome in the left shoulder,” they said. “Due to the intensity of the biomechanical demands involved in high-level boxing, the medical team deemed the athlete’s condition temporarily incompatible with competition.”
Olympic champion Imane Khelif injured in training, Paris pro fight delayed | AP News

I think that means: 'Khelif has an injured shoulder and isn't fit to box' - were they being paid by the syllable?😏

Convenient, isn't it?

German boxer Julia Igel has insisted she is not frightened of Olympic champion Imane Khelif, despite telling DW that she considers her Algerian opponent to be "male" amid questions over Khelif's eligibility for the female category.

"Someone that might have something to do with the male gender shouldn't be in women's boxing," Igel said ahead of the fight in Paris on April 23. "You can't say you're a woman and you feel like a woman. Just the punching power and the danger that you face when you have a male in front of you, it is different."

Khelif is not transgender and was assigned female at birth, but has admitted that she has the SRY gene, which is found on the Y chromosome and triggers the development of male characteristics. Critics argue this gives her an unfair and dangerous advantage over other women in the ring.
Not that Igel appears bothered by the apparent additional risks.

"I'm definitely not scared," the 25-year-old told DW at her training camp in Berlin. "And that is the best part, because when my coach asked me if I wanted to do this fight, my last thought was fear. I know my skills, I know my abilities."
Imane Khelif's first pro opponent: 'I'm not scared'