Wave of reactions after the loss of Bulgarian boxer Svetlana Kamenova to Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting

A wave of reactions after the Bulgarian boxer Svetlana Kamenova lost to Lin Yu-Ting at the Olympics in Paris. The Asian boxer is one of the two boxers, who has been at the centre of a social media storm in Paris due to them being disqualified at the 2023 World Championships for failing gender eligibility tests.

A big controversy arose around the Taiwanese athlete because of which gender she belongs to.

The three rounds turned into a game of nerves, and between the second and third one, Svetlana Kamenova was about to quit.

So the second round, although it looked even, virtually decided the fight after all five judges' scorecards marked Lin as the winner. Before the Asian's hand was raised in the ring Svetlana made a gesture of protest. A gesture that displayed the female XX chromosome. And then gave way to her opponent to get out of the ring by lifting the rope and holding it for her to pass.

Svetlana refused to speak immediately after the match, but a short time later she offered her thanks.

"Thank you for all the support and everything. Everybody sees. Everybody saw. They saw what I showed. No need of words," emphasized Bulgarian boxer Svetlana Kamenova.

About her gesture Svetlana said she did nothing wrong. However, she commented on the International Olympic Committee's decision to admit the Taiwanese boxer.

"I don't agree with what's happening to be like this. I think that some of the representatives have physical superiority over the others and this is not equality in sport," Svetlana Kamenova said.

Her coach was much more pointed.

"The Taiwanese woman was playing dirty as hell, she was given an official warning in the first round," Borislav Georgiev said.

She elbowed four or five times, and she was also doing circus acts. I'm outraged at what the refs are allowed to do - do whatever they want. This tolerance by the IOC against these two athletes influenced the judges. The IOC supports these two athletes, it is normal for their subordinates to do so. They have decided to make them champions and that's it, Georgiev said.

Numerous reactions followed, including that of President Rumen Radev. He congratulated Svetlana, saying that she had found the courage to fight not only for victory in what was considered a doomed match, but also for upholding normality and Olympic principles in sport.

Asian Lin is one of two female boxers, along with Algeria's Imane Khelif, who have been disqualified at the 2023 World Championships after falling gender eligibility tests at the 2023 World Boxing Championships in Delhi.

However, the International Olympic Committee, which is in charge of the Paris boxing tournament, insists the two boxers meet the necessary requirements to compete in the women's event.