Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting said on Saturday that winning a gold medal at the Asian Games "means the world" after the Olympic gender row.
Lin won gold in the women's 60kg category at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Friday (October 2), two years after being embroiled in a gender-eligibility row at the Paris Olympics.
"I took a long break and only started competing again this year. Looking back at this whole journey, from the Asian Boxing Elite Boxing Championships early in the year, to the World Boxing Cup in China, and now to the Asian Games in Nagoya, it's not like I had stellar results right from the get-go,” said Lin after celebrating her victory with fans in the centre of Nagoya city.
"Little by little, I saw myself improving. I'm just thrilled that yesterday in Nagoya, I managed to win this Asian Games gold medal, which means the world to me," Lin told Reuters.
Lin and Algerian Imane Khelif both won gold in Paris amid a gender dispute over their eligibility. Lin was cleared to compete earlier this year after World Boxing completed a review of her sex-eligibility status.
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Asked about her experience over the gender controversy, Lin said she had simply blocked out the outside noise.
"At the end of the day, I just focus on doing my job and let people say whatever they want. You can't control what others think, so you just have to focus on yourself. As long as I'm out there competing, my only goal is to show the absolute best version of myself," she said.
After beating China's Yang Chengyu 5-0 at Nishio Gymnasium to win her second consecutive Asian Games gold, Lin has set her sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and will focus on preparing for the first Olympic qualifier at next year's World Championships.
(Camera, Editing, Production and Writing: Irene Wang)