20240810-Director-General of the Sports Administration thanks Taiwan’s Representative Office in France for its assistance, and invites our people to root for LIN, Yu-ting
Issue date: August 10, 2024
Issuing unit: Competitive Athletics Division
Unit contact person: Yang Jin-chang
Tel: 02-87711988
Media contact person: Section Chief Luca Hsia
Tel: 02-87711859
Email: lucahsia@mail.sa.gov.tw
The 2024 Paris Olympics is coming to an end. Our delegation has performed well this time and has won one gold and five bronze medals so far. Their performance is catching up with that of the Tokyo Olympics. Mr. Shih-Chung CHENG (鄭世忠), Director-General of the Sports Administration of the Ministry of Education, together with Mr. Hong-Dow LIN (林鴻道), President of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee and the delegation’s leader Zhang Huan-chen, paid a visit to Ambassador WU Chi-chung François (吳志中), Taiwan’s Representative to France. They expressed their gratitude for the logistical support and assistance rendered by Ambassador Wu and his team. They also reiterated their support for our boxer Miss Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) and called on our people to root for her, hoping that she will win another gold medal for Taiwan tonight.
Director-General Cheng said our national delegation has received great assistance from our Representative Office in France, to include the establishment of relay stations, an exclusive and free sports training center for our athletes, the set-up of physical therapy clinics, central cantine, and support from Taiwanese businessmen, and etc.. He further mentioned: "After some Taiwanese spectators were treated unfairly and even violently, especially at badminton games, not only did our Olympic Committee launched its protest and concern to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the first place, but our Representative Office also expressed its concern to the French Paris 2024 organising Committee as well. I hope that our people rooting for our athlets in the French stadium will be refrained from any violent or unfair treatment, just like other countries’ spectators."
In addition, our boxer Lin Yu-ting has been affected by a gender-related non-issue this year. Despite of the wide-spread misinformation, she still fought all the way through to women's 57kg gold medal match. Cheng said that he was particularly grateful to Ambassador Wu for having continued to talk to the parties concerned, hoping to win the most support from the French people on this matter. Director Cheng further mentioned: "The mainstream media in France continues to vindicate and support Algerian boxer and our player Lin Yu-ting, both of them have suffered from discriminatory remarks on this matter."
Ambassador Wu further emphasized that support for Lin Yu-ting mainly consists of three parts: planning the relay stations to provide the best training environment for our players before the game; cooperating with the Sports Administration and our Olympic Committee during the game to recommend local lawyers to help lodge a stern protest against the International Boxing Association (IBA); and to explain this matter to local journalists.
"Among the French mainstream media’s news coverage on this issue, we saw a landslide majority in support of the Algerian boxer and our boxer, Lin, Yu-ting. Yesterday, two very important news reports were published, one by Le Monde and one by France 24. Le Monde is the most important media in France, and France 24 is also a very important international news channel. They both emphasized that the Algerian boxer won "the most courageous gold medal ever"! According to Ambassador Wu, these news reports also encouraged Lin Yu-ting to prove to the world that after so much unfair treatment, she can still fight against these controversies and accusations through courage and perseverance and win the gold medal at the end.
President Lin, as to him, emphasized that the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee has always had the greatest responsibility to protect the rights and interests of athletes. During the Paris Olympics, the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee has been in close contact with the International Olympic Committee. As far as we know, the IOC has always held the most strict standards to review eligibility of each and every athlete. A couple of days ago, the IOC has publicly stated that all boxing athletes who were allowed to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics are in compliance with IOC’s relevant regulations on eligibility and participation, as well as all relevant medical regulations. Thus, there is no controversy that Lin Yu-ting's participation totally complies with relevant regulations set by the 2024 Paris Boxing Unit (PBU).
As to Director-General Cheng, he pinpointed that not only the Sports Administration immediately rebuked the IBA’s misinformation and other related public opinions, but also asked a lawyer to send a letter on our behalf to the IBA. The Sports Administration's task is to ensure that our athlets are both mentally and physically prepared to compete in the Olympic Games. I hereby call upon our people to continue to gather strength and support Lin Yu-ting together, and cheer for Lin Yu-ting's gold medal match which is goign to take place at midnight tomorrow at Taiwan time.
Shih-Chung CHENG, Director-General of the Sports Administration stated that the Sports Administration and the NOC sent a letter through a lawyer on our behalf to the IBA
We invite our people to root for LIN, Yu-ting