Italian boxer Angela Carini quits bout with Algerian boxer Imane Khelif #shorts #parisolympics2024

Imane Khelif of Algeria won her opening Olympic boxing bout Thursday when opponent Angela Carini of Italy quit after just 46 seconds.

Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing an unspecified gender eligibility test, and her presence at the Paris Olympics has become a divisive issue.

Carini and Khelif exchanged only a few punches before Carini walked away and abandoned the bout — an extremely unusual occurrence in Olympic boxing. Carini’s headgear apparently became dislodged at least once before she quit. Carini didn't shake Khelif's hand after the decision was announced but cried in the ring on her knees.

Afterward, a still-tearful Carini said she quit because of intense pain in her nose after the opening punches. Carini, who had a spot of blood on her trunks, said she wasn't making a political statement and was not refusing to fight Khelif.

“I felt a severe pain in my nose, and with the maturity of a boxer, I said ‘enough,’ because I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to, I couldn’t finish the match," Carini said.

Carini further said she is not qualified to decide whether Khelif should be allowed to compete, but she had no problem fighting her.

“I am not here to judge or pass judgment,” Carini said. "If an athlete is this way, and in that sense it’s not right or it is right, it’s not up to me to decide. I just did my job as a boxer. I got into the ring and fought. I did it with my head held high and with a broken heart for not having finished the last kilometer.”

Khelif is an accomplished amateur who won a silver medal at the International Boxing Association's 2022 world championships. The same governing body disqualified her from last year's championships shortly before her gold-medal match because of what it claimed were elevated levels of testosterone.

The 25-year-old entered the ring at the North Paris Arena to a chorus of cheers, but the crowd was confused by the bout's sudden end. Khelif, who fights again Saturday, didn't speak to reporters.

“I am heartbroken because I am a fighter," Carini said. “My father taught me to be a warrior. I have always stepped into the ring with honor and I have always (served) my country with loyalty. And this time I couldn’t do it because I couldn’t fight anymore, and so I ended the match.”

Khelif and Lin Yu‑ting of Taiwan suddenly have received massive scrutiny for their presence in Paris after years of amateur competition. Lin won IBA world championships in 2018 and 2022, but the governing body stripped her of a bronze medal last year because it claimed she failed to meet unspecified eligibility requirements in a biochemical test.

Lin begins her Paris run Friday, fighting Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova in her opening bout after receiving a first-round bye.

The Algerian Olympic Committee issued a statement Wednesday condemning what it termed “lies” and “unethical targeting and maligning of our esteemed athlete, Imane Khelif, with baseless propaganda from certain foreign media outlets.”

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who was visiting Italy athletes in the Olympic Village on Thursday, voiced criticism that Carini had to box Khelif, saying she had since 2021 opposed allowing athletes with “genetically male” characteristics to compete against women.

“We have to pay attention, in an attempt to not discriminate, that we’re actually discriminating” against women’s rights, Meloni said.

===================

WCNC Charlotte considers multiple perspectives and provides diverse points of view. We actively listen, respond and involve our community in a two-way conversation. We find solutions to problems and get the answers that matter most to the communities we serve. We are transparent about our process, data and sources to build trust and VERIFY facts. Join in, share your thoughts and connect with new perspectives.

Follow WCNC Charlotte on social:

[Gooeymoosekipgen]

Women should fight women. Men should fight men. Trans should fight Trans

[robertjones]

Of COURSE she quit. She was being punched in the face by a damn man.

I’m sure as soon as she took the very first punch she felt the difference in power and knew she had to quit.

My heart breaks for her. She devoted hundreds of hours to hone her craft, maximize her fitness and perfect her nutrition, earned the right to represent her country, then was lined up against a man.

Her Olympic dreams were dashed in less than a minute.

[michaelthoele]

All of those females should refuse to fight against that individual.

[HomerSimpson]

No equal fight women vs trans.
Equal fight would be:
Men vs men
Women vs women
Trans vs trans

[RS-igzr]

The Olympics should be charged with abuse against that woman boxer. A dude should never fight a woman. This is plain disgusting.

[kevinpalmer]

I just don't get it that for the sake of wokeness a woman's career is destroyed and her Olympic dreams that she has probably spent her life training for destroyed too. All because everyone is so scared of calling it for what it is a man beating up a woman. Totally unfair. The world has gone mad.

[annpollak]

REPORTING FROM ITALY. It's all over the news here. Giorgia Meloni, Italian Prime Minister, was in Paris today and met with Angela Carini, who was interviewed tonight on national television in Italy. Carini trained for years. She competed in Tokyo, and soon thereafter, her father died. She had dedicated her Olympic experience in Paris to her dead father. My heart breaks for her.

[blakebrowning]

By you calling him a her you are approving this! What a horrible move by the Olympic committee!

[JJ-bdwn]

Angella must have been scared and frustrated to fight with a man. This is dangerous!!!

[curtisscism]

Stop referring to this athlete as she/her. HE beat his opponent within 45 seconds, a WOMAN.

[ValleyoftheRogue]

This is a MAN. There is no woman here except the one who upped and quit.

[ianseville]

Cmon its a man you can see its a man he shouldnt have been in the ring with a woman

[tomhamilton]

God Bless Italian boxer Angela Carini 🙏

[cheerwhiner]

The Italian boxer chose to lose a possible medal… but not get brain damage.
Smart choice.
🙄🙄🙄
Sad

[ogmius]

I had no idea this was real. enough is enough. I'm all for lgbtq rights, but this is ridiculous.

[clos]

F that. Dude freaking knows hes in the wrong. Any easy way to get a gold medal against another gender.

[hadeshair-ojiq]

Why in tf is there NO VIDEOS of any of this???? Only pictures

[karennewton]

XX is not the same as XY. He is a MAN.

[Kacee]

He. Not she. Stop being just like them.

[iese]

They failed starting the opening of Olympics!! Down hill from there!! Boycott this bullsh-t!!