Palfrey's comments triggered a fierce reaction from team officials and the Australian Olympic Committee.
Lin clinched gold in the women's boxing final match on Sunday, an emotional win that came as she and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif have been embroiled in a major row over their gender eligibility.
Tennis was introduced to China in the 1860s, but it failed to gain mass appeal and was largely an elite sport reserved for the wealthiest families.
The Australian Olympic Committee has decried a "misleading and bullying" online petition that described Gunn's performance as "unethical" and questioned how she was chosen for Paris.
The athletes, fresh from a national record 53 Olympic medal trawl, were asked about absent colleague b-girl Rachael "Raygun" Gunn.
Khelif was the centre of a gender controversy at the Olympics on her way to the women's 66kg title.
Jamaica were in third spot after the opening leg, but Andrenette Knight dropped the baton after bumping Ireland's Rhasidat Adeleke on the second leg.
The USA's dream team of NBA superstars held off France 98-87 to take their tally of men's Olympic basketball golds to 17.
China claimed their fifth gold from five competitions at the Games.
The scenario raises questions about the selection process and effectiveness of the scholarship programme in improving athletes' performance on the global stage.
Pakistan's medal prospects are undercut by modesty codes which dissuade women from participating in sport.
Jacobs timed a season's best of 10.02 seconds to claim gold. Italian teammate Chituru Ali took silver in 10.05sec, with Briton Romel Glave claiming bronze in 10.06sec.
His role in Paris as an advisor and ambassador for socially responsible business is a departure from his usual work -- and is all the more surprising given the reputation of the Olympics for embracing mega-projects and corporate sponsors.
The Matildas captain, one of the biggest names in women's football, ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in January and her father declared months ago that she would not be fit for Paris.
The French security services worry Moscow could be seeking to disrupt the Games.
The march of English globally has long infuriated French governments.
"The Olympic flame that we are lighting today symbolises this hope for a better future," said International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.
Organisers of the Paris Olympics are to distribute 220,000 condoms to athletes who want to get romantic during this year's Games in the City of Love.
"It is very difficult from a psychological and physical viewpoint to take part in two competitions like that one after the other, in the summer, without having any holiday," Deschamps admitted on Thursday.
