By Alfredo Di Cesare
01 Aug 2024, 13:20 PM EDT
A heated controversy erupted on Thursday at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Italian boxer Angela Carini felt the punch of Algerian Imane Khelif and decided to abandon the fight after a few seconds.
In the ring, still shaken by the blow, Carini could be heard expressing pain and helplessness. “It hurts so much” and “it’s not fair” were the two phrases she was heard saying in the ring before the referee awarded the victory to the Algerian.
This happened in the round of 16 of the up to 66kg category. Outside the ring, the Italian told the press in tears that she had never been hit with such a large and powerful blow. “I have never been hit so hard in my life.”
“I couldn’t continue. My nose was in a lot of pain and I said: ‘Stop.’ It’s better not to continue. My nose started to run from the first blow… It could have been the fight of my life, but at that moment, I also had to save my life,” he added.
Boxer Angela Carini has just left the Olympics after facing Imane Khelif. The fight lasted 47 seconds.
The International Boxing Association disqualified Khelif last year after finding male chromosomes in her. The IOC, however, allowed her to participate. pic.twitter.com/Bu60wB00tf
— Albert Ortega (@AlbertOrtegaES1) August 1, 2024
Gender doubts and controversy
The doubts about the gender of Algerian Imane Khelif have their origin in the World Boxing Championship held in New Delhi in 2023. In that tournament she was disqualified after undergoing a biological study that determined that her chromosomes were XY and not XX as women have.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) acknowledged that the boxer was disqualified for presenting a high level of testosterone, but determined that this was not an impediment to compete in the Olympic Games, thus ignoring the precedent of the International Boxing Association (IBA) and claims by the Italian Boxing Federation.
With Paris 2024, Khelif has already competed in her second world competition. The first was Tokyo 2020. Social media has exploded over this situation and opinions have been divided on the matter. It has even reached politics.
Keep reading:
· 2024 Olympics: Egyptian fencer competed while 7 months pregnant
· Daniel Pintado wins gold medal for Ecuador in Paris 2024 and celebrates like Cristiano Ronaldo
· “Congratulations, crack”: Messi’s message to ‘Maligno’ Torres after winning gold at the Olympics