Hong Kong star Anthony Wong has voiced his support for Taiwanese boxer Lin Yuting, who is at the centre of a gender eligibility row at the Paris Olympics.
Many, including Harry Potter author JK Rowling and tech billionaire Elon Musk, have questioned whether the 28-year-old should have been eligible to compete at the Olympics after being disqualified from the world championships by the International Boxing Association (IBA) last year for failing gender eligibility tests.
Yuting defeated Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva by unanimous decision on Aug 5 to advance to the women’s 57kg semifinal, ensuring she will win at least a bronze medal.
She will face Turkey’s Esra Yildiz Kahraman in the semifinals tomorrow (Aug 7).
Yuting and fellow boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria, both born female and have competed as women for years, have come under scrutiny following a wave of misconceptions about their gender.
They were found to have XY chromosomes in the IBA’s gender eligibility tests last year, identifying them as male.
Following Yuting’s quarterfinal win on Aug 5, Anthony took to Facebook to declare his support for the boxer, calling her “truly amazing and brave”.
When Taiwanese netizens thanked him for speaking out for Yuting, the actor replied, “I’m not speaking out. I admire her.”
He also explained that having “XY [chromosomes] doesn’t necessarily mean [she is] male,” and suggested that people “read more books [on the subject]”.
When some netizens pointed out that there are people in Taiwan who labelled Yuting transgender and a man, Anthony responded: “There are fools everywhere.”
Though Yuting was initially very affected by hateful comments directed at her, she has since shut down her social media and set her sights on the prize.
Her goal is to keep going and win the gold medal.
Yuting made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games in 2021, but did not medal.