Lin Yu-ting: From Yingge Junior High School Boxing Team to Paris Olympic Gold Medalist

On August 11, 2024 (Taiwan time), Lin Yu-ting defeated Poland's Julia Szeremeta with a 5-0 score in the women's 57kg boxing gold medal match at the Paris Olympics, winning Taiwan's first Olympic boxing gold medal¹². Following her tradition of "carrying the coach once the gold is won," she carried her coach, Tseng Tzu-chiang, for a distance after the match³. During these Olympics, she and Algeria's Imane Khelif were both embroiled in gender controversies; IOC President Thomas Bach reaffirmed that both women were born female and had the right to compete⁴.

The Original Intention to Protect Her Mother

Lin Yu-ting was born in 1995 in Yingge Township, Taipei County (now Yingge District, New Taipei City), and is the youngest of four siblings⁴. During a junior high school interview with Taiwanese media, she said: "When I was little, my father often hit my mother, so I joined the boxing team, hoping I could use my own strength to protect her."⁴ After her father left home, her mother worked to support the family⁴. She also mentioned that watching Hajime no Ippo (Fighting Spirit) with her older brother was one of the catalysts for her interest in boxing⁴.

Yingge Junior High Boxing Team and Tseng Tzu-chiang

Tseng Tzu-chiang was once a gold medalist in the National Games, but retired due to sports injuries. He joined the Yingge Junior High School boxing team as a coach in 2008⁵. When Lin Yu-ting first joined the team, she was only 140 cm tall, and Tseng Tzu-chiang was initially not optimistic about her⁴. However, after training for just over two months, she secured second place in the junior high girls' division at the National Presidential Cup Boxing Championships³.

Source: BBC Chinese, AP, and CNA⁶²⁷

Sparring with Men and Weight Management

Tseng Tzu-chiang told her: "If you train as if you are a girl, you will never improve." Consequently, Lin Yu-ting began sparring with male boxers⁴. Her cousin and sparring partner, Hsu Hao-chang, told the BBC that men's punches are heavier; sometimes she couldn't handle it and would get nosebleeds, but she would wipe them away and continue training⁶.

Boxing is categorized by weight classes, making weight management a daily necessity. In an interview with CommonWealth Magazine regarding athletes' self-discipline, Tseng Tzu-chiang noted that if an athlete eats a large meal or drinks pearl milk tea with friends at lunch, they must exercise restraint at dinner, as weight cannot affect their competition weight class⁸. Hsu Hao-chang recalled that before the Rio Olympics at the National Training Center, Lin Yu-ting used two bowls during meals to control her weight—one for vegetables and one for hot water to rinse the vegetables. She also trained in heavy long-sleeved clothing to induce more sweat⁶.

Sparring Partner Lee Cheng-wei

Lee Cheng-wei is Lin Yu-ting's long-term sparring partner and a junior at Culture University⁹. He was recruited by Tseng Tzu-chiang to spar with Lin while he was studying at Yingge Commercial & Industrial High School, making him the longest-serving sparring partner in the team¹⁰. According to a report by CommonWealth, Tseng Tzu-chiang scouted Lee in 2015, describing him as someone who "practices whatever Lin practices"; by the time of the report, he had already served as a sparring partner for nine years¹¹.

📝 Curator's Note: While organizing this data, I noticed the people surrounding Lin Yu-ting. Coach Tseng Tzu-chiang has led the Yingge Junior High School boxing team since 2008⁵, and sparring partner Lee Cheng-wei has been training with her since high school¹⁰. After her defeat at the Tokyo Olympics, she also stayed to accompany Huang Hsiao-wen in training¹². That moment after the gold medal match when she carried her coach on her back³ was supported by a small team that has trained together for many years.

From Youth Gold to Asian Games Gold

The BBC summarized her competitive achievements: In 2013, she won gold at the World Junior and Youth Women's Boxing Championships in Bulgaria, becoming the first Taiwanese athlete to win a gold medal in a youth category at a world boxing event; in 2018, she won an Asian Games bronze and a World Championship gold, becoming Taiwan's first boxer to win a gold medal at the World Championships; in 2022, she secured her second World Championship gold in Istanbul; and in 2023, she won gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games, becoming the first female boxer in Taiwan's history to win an Asian Games gold medal⁴.

Rio and Tokyo: Two Defeats

During the 2016 Rio Olympics qualifiers, she was only one win away from securing an Olympic berth⁴. Citing Tseng Tzu-chiang in Sports Note, the coach told Lin Yu-ting after the match: "Coach is sorry; I couldn't lead you to the highest peak, but that doesn't mean this is your finish line." Lin Yu-ting replied: "Coach, wherever you go, I will go."⁵

At the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, Lin Yu-ting competed as the top seed and world number one, but lost in the round of 16⁴, falling 2–3 to the Philippine athlete Nietes¹³. In a 2021 interview with The Reporter, she said she was extremely disappointed in herself at the time and "broke down in tears." Fortunately, her coach Tseng Tzu-chiang continuously encouraged her and even suggested she switch roles to stay and accompany Huang Hsiao-wen of the 51kg weight class during training¹². The same report mentioned that Tseng Tzu-chiang had sought to hire a sports psychologist early on to help young athletes recognize and express their anxiety, nervousness, and fear¹².

She also spoke about the pressure of being treated as a role model: "I have always been treated as a role model with high expectations. My coach also hopes I can lead the junior students, which naturally creates pressure. I am constantly learning how to handle it."¹²

2023 World Championships: Bronze Medal Stripped

In March 2023, Lin Yu-ting won a bronze medal at the World Championships in New Delhi, but the International Boxing Association (IBA) subsequently stripped her of the medal, citing "abnormal gender biochemical indices" prior to the competition⁴. Following her return to Taiwan, the Sports Administration of the Ministry of Education launched a special investigation and announced in April of the same year that her test results complied with international competition regulations⁴.

Source: Reports from BBC News Chinese, AP, TVBS, and CNA⁴²¹⁴¹⁵

Conflict Between the IBA and the IOC

According to BBC reports, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) removed the International Boxing Association (IBA) in June 2023 due to "internal management issues" ⁶. The Associated Press noted that the dispute between the two parties centers on the management style led by Uzbek and Russian officials within the IBA, its financial support from the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom, and the fairness of competitions and scoring ¹⁶. While the IBA's nearly US$20 million debt was settled during Umar Kremlev's tenure, the IOC opposes the IBA's financial reliance on Gazprom ¹⁶.

In a BBC interview prior to the gold medal match, Tseng Tzu-chiang stated that the IBA makes allegations without providing evidence because they want to regain control over international boxing competitions ⁶. The statements from the IBA side have been inconsistent: CEO Chris Roberts told the BBC that both individuals tested positive for XY chromosomes; however, President Kremlev stated during a press conference on August 5 that both individuals had very high testosterone levels. Both parties refused to disclose further testing details ⁶.

Paris Olympics: Gender Controversy and the Semifinals

During the Olympics, J.K. Rowling and Maggie McGowan reposted reports on social media questioning Lin Yu-ting's eligibility; however, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Sports Administration responded that she complied with all competition regulations¹⁷. The boxing working group of the Paris Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the IOC also issued statements in response to the doubts¹⁸. Political figures from both the Pan-Blue and Pan-Green camps in Taiwan also expressed their stances on this matter¹⁹.

Tseng Tzu-chiang revealed that after arriving in Paris to prepare, Lin Yu-ting closed her social media accounts and stopped checking online messages. As she has done when competing abroad in the past, she brought books related to "success studies" to use reading as a way to stabilize her emotions⁶. During the Olympics, she stated: "Since we have all stepped up to compete, I can view these storms as perhaps opponents being too intimidated by our strength and picking at flaws to make an issue of them; I will simply perform even better on the field."²⁰ After the gold medal match, she also told the BBC: "If you are affected, it means their tactics have succeeded."⁶

In the semifinals, Lin Yu-ting defeated a Turkish athlete with a score of 5-0, becoming the first boxer in Taiwan's history to advance to an Olympic gold medal match. After the bout, her opponent politely pulled up the ring ropes for her and then made an "X" hand gesture on stage to protest the gender controversy; Lin Yu-ting responded calmly, stepping down from the ring to thank the entire audience²¹.

The Gold Medal Match

The Associated Press described how the 175-cm tall Lin Yu-ting is typically taller and leaner than her opponents, winning through technique and angles rather than raw power². In the gold medal match, she used long left jabs from the start to keep the 20-year-old Séléma Tatlides at a distance while connecting combinations². The AP also wrote that she worked hard to remain calm and composed throughout the entire Olympic boxing tournament, even as much of the outside world criticized and misrepresented her². During a video call with her, Lai Ching-te mentioned that she had won every single match 5-0 under immense pressure⁷.

Before the competition, Lin Yu-ting's mother said her daughter asked her to turn off social media so she could focus on her preparations; before the gold medal match, her daughter told her she was ready and to not worry. After the match, her mother said, "In my heart, she will always be the greatest!" Prior to the event, more than 2,000 people gathered in New Taipei City to watch the live broadcast⁶. The AP reported that Lin Yu-ting broke down in tears upon standing on the podium and hearing the national anthem of Taiwan². She knelt to kiss the ring, then carried Tseng Tzu-chiang on her back for a short distance³.

According to Sports Note, Tseng Tzu-chiang responded humorously after the match: "Thank you, J.K. Rowling, for letting the whole world see the pride of Taiwan. We only do what we want to do and listen to what we want to hear, so we must also become our own magicians."⁵

After Returning to Taiwan: "Taiwan's Daughter," Public Interest Ambassador, and Endorsements

Upon returning to Taiwan, Lin Yu-ting spoke about the honor of being called "Taiwan's Daughter" and expressed her hope to become a better role model²². The Sports Administration has appointed her as a national public interest ambassador to promote anti-bullying efforts²². In February 2025, in her capacity as an anti-bullying ambassador, she appeared in a promotional video for the Ministry of Education regarding campus bullying prevention, where she revealed that she had previously suffered verbal bullying due to her gender-neutral dressing style²³.

Her first official endorsement after winning gold was for a sanitary napkin brand. The brand has supported the Yingge boxing team for 10 years and provided crucial support even when her 2023 World Championship bronze medal was revoked²⁴. According to a report by 《Marie Claire》, this brand is "Tian Tian Sanitary Napkin" from Taiwan Kang-Chuang²⁵. The promotional video opens with the line, "If I am not a girl, then what is a girl? A girl is not born to fit someone else's imagination," encouraging women to become whoever they want to be²⁴.

Faculty and Awards

In August 2024, when Culture University President Wang Tzu-chi went to the airport to welcome her, he stated that Lin Yu-ting would teach in the university's Department of Physical Education and would begin her doctoral studies in August²⁶. That same year, she attended the Culture University New Faculty Workshop as a full-time instructor in the Department of Physical Education²⁷. A Culture University press release published on the CNA News Platform in October 2026 referred to her as an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Education¹⁵.

At the Elite Awards on December 20, 2024, Lin Yu-ting was selected as Female Athlete of the Year, and Tseng Tzu-chiang was selected as Best Coach²⁸. In her acceptance speech, she quoted Socrates: "Only by experiencing wind and rain can one achieve a fulfilling life; as long as the heart is strong enough, one can overcome anything"²⁹.

The Executive Yuan awarded her the Guoguang Sports Medal along with prize money. Lin Yu-ting received a total of NT$20.9 million, which included an Olympic gold medal bonus of NT$20 million and an additional NT$900,000 to compensate for the bronze medal prize money that was canceled during the 2023 World Championships³⁰.

Post-Olympic Competition: World Boxing and the Asian Games

According to TVBS, gender testing procedures by World Boxing remained ambiguous following the Olympics, preventing Lin Yu-ting from competing until an appeal was successful on March 19, 2026, confirming her eligibility for the Asian Boxing Championships¹⁴. Liberty Times reported that the World Boxing Medical Committee sent a letter to the Chinese Taipei Boxing Association, recognizing her eligibility for the women's category³¹. In her first bout after the Olympics at the 2026 Asian Boxing Championships, she won a bronze medal³², losing in the semifinals to North Korean athlete Won Eun-gyeong after slipping and receiving a count 23 seconds before the end of the match¹⁴.

At the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, she moved up to the women's 60kg weight class. In the gold medal match, she defeated Chinese athlete Yang Chengyu by a score of 5–0, successfully defending her Asian Games gold medal and becoming Taiwan's first athlete to win boxing gold in two consecutive Asian Games¹⁵.

The Four Golden Girls of Boxing

TVBS reported that the Chinese Taipei boxing team secured six spots (4 women, 2 men) at the Paris Olympics. The female athletes were Lin Yu-ting, Chen Nien-chin, Huang Hsiao-wen, and Wu Shih-yi, whom the media dubbed the "Four Golden Girls of Boxing"³³. After her defeat at the Tokyo Olympics, Lin Yu-ting stayed behind to support Huang Hsiao-wen's training; Huang later won Taiwan's first Olympic boxing medal¹². In a video message, Lai Ching-te noted that although Huang Hsiao-wen lost an opportunity during the Paris Olympics due to a refereeing error, she remained in Paris to assist as a sparring partner, while Chen Nien-chin secured a bronze medal⁷.

References