Boxer Carini Quits Olympic Bout With Khelif in 46 Seconds
Imane Khelif failed a gender eligibility test at the IBA championships last year
Boxer Carini Quits Olympic Bout With Khelif in 46 Seconds
Olympic boxing fans and sporting pundits have voiced their outrage after a female Italian competitor threw in the towel 46 seconds into a bout fearing she was fighting a man.
IOC officials have been forced to defend their gender position on athletes after Algerian boxer Imane Khelif took to the ring in a first-round bout against Angela Carini who has said she withdrew from the bout to ‘safeguard her life’.
Carini’s headgear became dislodged twice after punches before she quit and she refused to shake Khelif’s hand after the decision was announced.
“She felt pain in the nose and said to me, ‘I don’t want to fight more’,” her Italian coach Emanuele Renzini said.
“People say, ‘Don’t go, it’s dangerous, she’s a man’. Maybe it’s this (why she quit). It’s not my decision, It’s a difficult decision.’’
The IOC on Friday released a statement to try and qualify its position as it scrambles to quell the ill sentiment surrounding its decision to let certain athletes compete.
Boxer Carini Quits Olympic Bout With Khelif in 46 Seconds
“We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” the IOC said.
“The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.
“These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.
“According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations.”
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Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yuting of Taiwan were disqualified from last year’s International Boxing Association-run world championships after they failed the gender eligibility test and were deemed to have a competitive advantage.
