Lin Yu-ting battled skilled opponents in the boxing ring and loud detractors outside of it amid an ongoing row over her gender eligibility to claim the gold medal in the women's featherweight category.
The 29-year-old defeated the 20-year-old Julia Szeremeta of Poland 5-0 to clinch the gold medal. Though it may seem that that Chinese Taipei boxer cruised to the gold medal finish in Paris, she had to battle the constant hate she copped from her detractors who questioned her presence in the women's category at the Olympics.
Notably, Lin Yu-ting and Imane Khelif of Algeria were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships after reportedly failing the gender eligibility tests but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed them to compete at the Paris Olympics.
"As an elite athlete, during the competition, it's important to shut myself off from social media," Lin Yu-ting was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India (PTI) following her gold medal win.
"That's extremely important. Some of the noises or some of the news articles, of course I heard some of the information through my coach, but I didn't pay too much mind to it. And I was invited by the IOC to participate in the Games. This is what I focused on."
The Chinese Taipei pugilist is proud of the feat that she achieved at the Paris Olympics and got emotional after the judges declared her the champion in the featherweight category.
"I saw images flashing, and I thought about the beginning of my career when I started boxing," Lin said.
"All the difficult practices, the times that I got injured, the competitors I fought against. All these images flashed in my head. There are times of great pain. There are times of great joy. I cried because I was so touched," she added.
