'Unfair, unsafe and wrong....Stars' anger as second gender row boxer wins

THE Paris Olympics descended into more controversy yesterday as a second female boxer was reduced to tears after losing to a "gender row" opponent in a bout branded "unfair, unsafe and wrong".

- Stephen Beech

Critics reacted with anger after Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting, 28, who previously failed a gender test, unanimously defeated Uzbekistan's Sitora Turdibekova.

The bout came a day after Algeria's Imane Khelif beat Angela Carini in a bruising welterweight clash of 46 seconds, which left the Italian boxer with a suspected broken nose.

Double world champion Yu-ting, who competes in the Olympics under the flag of Chinese Taipei, is one of two fighters, along with Khelif, 25, at the centre of a gender row.

Disqualified

Both were cleared to compete in the Olympics, having been disqualified from the World Championships last year by the International Boxing Association for failing to meet gender eligibility criteria.

Critics were quick to slam yesterday's fight and the International Olympic Committee for allowing it.

Former marathon runner and twotime Olympian Mara Yamauchi said: "Another female boxer loses to a male at Paris 2024. This is unfair, unsafe and wrong.

"When males don't win by miles in the female category, it shows they aren't very good, not that they don't have male advantage. Shame on the IOC for allowing this."

The bout came after Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy described the fight between Khelif and Carini as an "incredibly uncomfortable watch".

Ms Nandy said she will be speaking to sporting bodies about "inclusion, fairness and safety" after Carini was forced to abandon the fight in tears after just 46 seconds on Thursday, claiming she feared for her life after being hit so hard by her opponent.

Responding to the row, Ms Nandy yesterday told the BBC: "It was an incredibly uncomfortable watch for the 46 seconds that it lasted. And I know that there's a lot of concern about women competitors, about whether we're getting the balance right in not just boxing but other sports as well.