Imane Khelif and Angela Carini traded a few rapid punches during their 46 seconds of action in the Paris ring. This brief exchange was enough to convince Carini that her Olympic debut was over.
Suddenly, the Italian boxer turned away from her Algerian rival and walked to her corner on Thursday, abandoning the fight—an event that is highly unusual in Olympic boxing.
“Carini did not shake Khelif’s hand after the referee declared her the winner”, but she was visibly upset, collapsing to her knees in tears. A few minutes later, still crying, Carini explained that she had withdrawn due to the pain from those initial blows.
“I felt a sharp pain in my nose, and with the wise judgment of a boxer, I decided to say ‘enough,’ because I didn’t want to continue; I couldn’t finish the match,” Carini remarked.
Khelif had been disqualified from the 2023 world championships after not passing an undisclosed gender eligibility test, and her participation in the Paris Olympics has sparked considerable debate.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Trump, J.K. Rowling , Elon Musk, and all appeared to criticize, including Boxer Imane Khelif From Algeria.
A boxer whose gender identity has come under scrutiny recently celebrated her first victory at the Paris Olympics on Thursday against Italian Boxer . Angela Carini
Algerian by born Imane Khelif triumphed over Angela Carini, Italian Boxer, who withdrew from the bout just in 46 seconds time. After a few punches were exchanged, Carini opted to stop the fight, declined to shake Khelif’s hand, and then collapsed to the ground in tears.
Khelif’s eligibility to compete in women’s boxing at the Olympics has faced increased attention following reports that she and another athlete, Lin Yu-ting from Taiwan, did not pass gender eligibility testing during the Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi last year. Authorities at that time claimed the boxers did not meet the necessary criteria due to having male chromosomes.
At 25 years old, Khelif has consistently competed as a woman, including at the Tokyo Olympics, and there is no evidence to suggest she identifies as transgender or intersex, the latter referring to those born with sexual characteristics that do not strictly conform to traditional male or female definitions.
Carini stated she ended the match due to “severe pain” in her nose and remarked that she isn’t qualified to judge whether Khelif should compete.
“I’m not here to make judgments,” Carini explained to reporters after the fight. “Whether an athlete’s situation is right or wrong, that’s not for me to determine.”
Others expressed their thoughts more openly.
“It’s crucial to be cautious; in striving to avoid discrimination, we might inadvertently discriminate against women,” said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a visit to the Olympic Village. “What matters is not just an athlete’s dedication and mindset, but also achieving a level playing field.”
Several American politicians, including former President Donald Trump, Senator Marco Rubio from Florida, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, also voiced their opinions regarding the match.
“We need to be cautious, as our efforts to avoid discrimination may actually end up discriminating,” Meloni remarked regarding women’s rights.
Khelif and Lin are both seasoned Olympians, having competed in the Tokyo Games. Lin has dedicated a decade to her esteemed amateur boxing career, while Khelif has been involved in the sport for six years.
This week, the IOC reaffirmed the boxers’ right to participate. For the first time in Olympic history, boxing achieved gender equality with an equal number of 124 male and female competitors set to participate in Paris.
The IOC stated that its eligibility criteria for boxers was based on the gender-related regulations that were in effect during the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. Several sports governing bodies, including World Aquatics, World Athletics, and the International Cycling Union, have revised their gender regulations over the past three years. Notably, the athletics governing body recently tightened its rules concerning athletes with differences in sex development.
The IOC has taken charge of boxing in Paris after revoking the IBA’s Olympic status due to longstanding issues with governance, a lack of financial transparency, and numerous reports of corruption in judging and refereeing.
Umar Kremlev, a Russian national, leads the IBA. He secured Russian state-owned Gazprom as its main sponsor and relocated many IBA operations to Russia.
As a result, the IBA has lost over thirty members who have created a new organization called World Boxing, which aims to gain IOC recognition as the sport’s governing entity prior to the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
The IBA has leveraged the participation of the two boxers in Paris to criticize the IOC. Following the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s support of the IOC’s ban earlier this year, the IBA made a last-ditch appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal in an effort to overturn that decision.
In a statement on Wednesday, the IBA claimed that neither boxer underwent a “testosterone examination” the previous year but rather was “subject to a separate and recognized test” leading to their disqualification. The IBA noted that the details of this test “remain confidential,” declining to provide further information.
Ignoring IOC recommendations, the IBA permitted Russian athletes to compete at the 2023 world championships while representing the Russian flag. Khelif was subsequently disqualified only after securing a victory over Russian boxer Azalia Amineva during the tournament.
