The heartbreaking reason why Taiwan's Lin Yu-Ting took up boxing before being stripped of medal over failed gender test: Two-time world champion learned sport to protect her mother from domestic abuse

Controversial Taiwanese female boxer Lin Yu-Ting took up the sport to protect her mother from domestic violence, MailOnline can reveal.

The two-time world champion boxer stepped into the ring to fight Uzbekistan's Sitora Turdibekova on Friday. 

The clash between Lin, 28, and Turdibekova, 22, has sparked controversy after Lin failed a gender eligibility test at last year's World Championships.

Lin - who has come into the Olympics as top seed - lost her bronze medal after she failed to meet the International Boxing Association's unspecified eligibility criteria.

All eyes were on Lin's bout with Turdibekova, which she won comfortably, following yesterday's dramatic fight that saw Carini quit in less than a minute with Khelif landing just one punch.

In an interview with Liberty in 2013, Yu-Ting, a two time world champion, was just 17-years-old when she made the shock revelation. 

Sitora Turdibekova, 22, went the full three rounds against Lin Yu-Ting of Taipei in the 57kg featherweight category but lost on a unanimous decision. 

She refused to shake hands with her controversial opponent in a move which was being as a protest against the Taipei’s involvement. 

In the Liberty Times interview MailOnline has discovered, Yu-Ting said: 'Learning boxing is to protect my mother.'

She spoke out after winning the gold medal at the World Youth Women's Boxing Championship, but was born into a family of domestic violence.

Her coach Zeng Ziqiang said Yu-Ting learned boxing because she felt sorry for her mother who was repeatedly beaten by her father.

Following her success she was given a 40,000 Taiwanese dollar education scholarship and she then gave future prize money to her mother to support her family after her father walked out on them at their home in New Taipei City.

She also revealed how she was inspired to take up boxing after watching cartoons with her favourite being The First Divine Fist, a popular animated series in Taiwan.

It tells the story of a little boy who is bullied at school and then meets a famous fighter called Mamoru Takamura who reaches him how to box and go onto be a champion.

Yu-Ting said that watching the Manga cartoon made her 'interested in boxing' although she had to overcome opposition from her mother at first who was worried it would interfere with her studies.

After taking part in the Asian Boxing Championships winning gold in 2017 and 2019 she took part in ger first Olympics in 2021 in Toyko where she lost in the round of 16.

She is also a two times world champion but last year was disqualified from the women's competition in New Delhi after failing to meet gender eligibility criteria from the International Boxing association.

Her hero is the legendary Ukrainian boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko, the two-time Olympic champion.

On Friday, Taiwan's presidential office and former president expressed support for her.

Tsai Ing-Wen, the country's first female president who was in office for eight years between 2016 and 2024 said: 'Let's cheer for Lin Yu-Ting together,' adding that a victory would be an honour for Taiwan.

She added that Yu-Ting was 'fearless in the face of challenges, whether they come from inside or outside the ring.'

While Pan Men-an, the Secretary General for Taiwan's Presidential Office, wrote on Facebook that it was wrong she had been 'subjected to humiliation, insults and verbal bullying just because of your appearance and a controversial verdict in the past.'