Imane Khelif, boxer in middle of Olympics gender storm, forces tearful first opponent to quit 46 seconds into fight

Imane Khelif‘s first fight will do nothing to calm the controversy around the boxer’s entrance into the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Khelif, an Algerian who failed gender eligibility tests at the 2023 World Championships, forced her Italian opponent, Angela Carini, to withdraw from their opening-round bout in 46 seconds Thursday.

A furious Carini was left in tears and retreated to her corner after getting hit twice in the face by Khelif.

She yelled “this is unjust” at her corner and slammed her headgear on the canvas as the match in the 66-kilogram division was called off.

Carini refused a handshake from Khelif and then ripped her hand away from the ref as Khelif’s was raised as the winner.

“I’m used to suffering,” Carini said after the fight when she spoke to reporters for 20 minutes through tears. “I’ve never taken a punch like that, it’s impossible to continue. I’m nobody to say it’s illegal. 

“I got into the ring to fight. But I didn’t feel like it anymore after the first minute. I started to feel a strong pain in my nose. I didn’t give up, but a punch hurt too much and so I said enough. I’m leaving with my head held high.”

Carini’s coach, Emanuel Renzini, told reporters that he was unsure if the boxer’s nose was broken and that she had been warned not to take the fight.

“Many people in Italy tried to call and tell her: ‘Don’t go please: It’s a man, it’s dangerous for you,” Renzini said. 

Before the Olympics, the IOC defended the decision to let Khelif, 25, and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting into the competition after both were disqualified from the world championships.

“All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations,” the International Olympic Committee said in a statement prior to the Games.

Both had competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and failed to medal.

“I’m here for the gold,” Khelif told BBC Sport. “I fight everybody.”

The different status of Lin and Khelif at the Olympics and worlds is fallout from the years-long dispute between the IOC and the Russian-led IBA over alleged failures of governance and integrity, plus reliance on funding from state energy firm Gazprom.

“Everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. “They are women in their passports and it’s stated that this is the case, that they are female.”

2024 PARIS OLYMPICS

The IOC has appointed officials to run boxing at two straight Summer Games and acknowledged Monday the tournament rules for Paris are “descended from” those in place eight years ago at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Boxing officials picked to run Paris qualifying and finals tournaments tried “to restrict amendments to minimize the impact on athletes’ preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games,” the IOC said.

The IOC-run database of about 10,700 athletes competing in Paris detailed both boxers’ experiences at the 2023 worlds.

Khelif was disqualified “just hours before her gold medal showdown” against a Chinese opponent “after her elevated levels of testosterone failed to meet the eligibility criteria.”

Khelif will next fight in the quarterfinals against Hungaria’s Anna Luca Hamori on Saturday.

“I’m not scared,” said Hamori, who trounced Australia’s Marissa Williamson Pohlman in her opening fight. “I don’t care about the press story and social media. If she or he is a man, it will be a bigger victory for me if I win.”

Outrage exploded around the world, including from Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni.

“I regret it [Carini’s withdrawal] even more. I was emotional yesterday when she wrote ‘I will fight’ because the dedication, the head, the character, surely also play a role in these things,” Meloni said.

“But then it also matters to be able to compete on equal grounds and, from my point of view, it was not an even contest.”

— With AP