Turkish boxer Esra Yildiz protests after losing to Lin Yu-ting: what does the ‘X’ symbol mean?

Turkey’s Esra Yildiz made a controversial ‘X’ symbol with her fingers in the middle of the ring after being defeated in the semifinals of the women’s 57kg boxing tournament by Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, one of two boxers at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris who have been at the centre of a gender dispute.

What is the controversy surrounding Lin Yu-ting at the 2024 Olympics?

Lin Yu-ting, who is not a transgender athlete, was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi by the International Boxing Association (IBA) after taking a gender test. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed her eligibility to compete in the women’s 57kg event at the 2024 Olympics.

The IOC also stripped the IBA of its status as boxing’s governing body. On Sunday, a spokesperson for the IOC said the IBA’s eligibility tests were “flawed” and “not legitimate”.

Last week, meanwhile, IBA chief executive Chris Roberts had told the BBC that male XY chromosomes had been found after both Yu-ting and Algeria’s Imane Khelif had taken gender eligibility tests.

Why did Yildiz make an ‘X’ symbol with her fingers after losing to Yu-ting?

In the vast majority of cases, men have XY chromosomes and women have XX chromosomes.

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We can therefore only assume Yildiz’s controversial ‘X’ gesture following her loss, which resulted in her claiming a bronze medal, means she feels her opponents shouldn’t have been eligible to compete against her.

Yu-ting will now face Poland’s Julia Szeremeta in the final on Saturday. Khelif will come up against Yang Liu of China in the gold medal match in the women’s 66kg tournament the previous day.