Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting has advanced to the gold-medal bout in the women’s featherweight division, winning her third consecutive match while dealing with widespread scrutiny regarding misconceptions about her gender at the Paris Olympics.

One day after welterweight Imane Khelif of Algeria reached the women’s welterweight final with a third straight victory in Paris, Lin defeated Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey 5:0 on Wednesday night for her third win.

Lin will fight for gold on Saturday, taking on Poland’s Julia Szeremeta.

Lin and Khelif both won every round in all three of their Olympic bouts despite the massive distractions created by the fallout from the Olympic-banished International Boxing Association’s decision last year to disqualify both fighters from the world championships for allegedly failing an eligibility test.

Both fighters have responded to this unwelcome spotlight by making two of the best tournament runs of their lengthy amateur careers. Just like Khelif, Lin has never been a dominant champion in her sport, but that hasn’t stopped many observers from casting both as unstoppable boxing machines during the Olympics because the IBA disqualified them last year.

In fact, the 28-year-old Lin is a veteran amateur boxer who won world championships in 2018 and 2022 during a solid decade at the top level of the sport.

She has received ample support from outside the Olympics, even from former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen – and when Lin thrust one glove in the air and walked to the ring for the opening bout on Court Philippe Chatrier, she received loud cheers from a huge crowd with pockets of roaring, flag-waving fans.

Both Lin and Khelif have been cheered constantly during their time in the Olympic boxing rings, first in suburban Villepinte and then at this famed clay-court tennis complex.

Battle for medal table top spot heats up between US and China

Meanwhile, China and the US keep battling for the top of the medal table of the Paris Olympics.

Team America won gold in women’s team pursuit and in the men’s 400 meters with an incredible comeback by Quincy Hall

China responded with victories in the men’s 61kg weightlifting by Li Fabin and in artistic swimming.

On the EU side of things, the Netherlands racked up a new gold in women’s dinghy to narrow the gap with Italy, although host France remains the most successful country of the bunch.

Find out more about the Paris 2024 medal table placements here.