The image of Italy’s Angela Carini dropping to her knees and weeping inconsolably would definitely be amongst the defining moments of the Paris Olympics. Just 46 seconds into her Round of 16 bout against Algeria’s Imane Khelif – who reportedly failed gender-eligibility test conducted by International Boxing Agency’ during world championships in India last year – in the 66kg category, Carini said she withdrew after being hit harder than she had ever been hit before. The BBC and the Telegraph reported that Carini had suffered a suspected broken nose. Very early into the bout, there was a brief pause with Carini needing to adjust her head guard after Khelif’s punches dislodged her chin strap. And soon after, as Khelif’s right hand landed a punch on her chin, Carini sought the assistance of her team as it bloodied her shorts. And she decided against continuing the bout. The referee then waved off the contest and raised Khelif’s hand as Carini sunk to her knees. In the moments that followed, Carini would ignore Khelif, who tried to console her twice. Inside the ring, Carini was telling her coach “It is not right, it is not right.” “I am heartbroken,” Carini later told reporters. “I was told a lot of times that I was a warrior but I preferred to stop for my health. I have never felt a punch like this. I got into the ring to fight. I didn’t give up, but one punch hurt too much and so I said enough. I’m going out with my head held high,” the 25-year-old from Naples said. Carini said the second punch on her nose was so hard she couldn’t continue any longer. “It’s not a defeat for me, for me if you go in the ring you have already won, regardless of everything else. I’m not here to judge. It’s not up to be to say if it’s fair or not fair. I just did my job. I managed to leave with my head held high. I’m a mature woman, when I feel I cannot continue, it’s not giving in, it’s having the dignity to say enough. I was convinced I would win, I was concentrated, serene. But these punches to the nose hurt, I said enough.” Although Khelif didn’t speak to the reporters, she did speak to the BBC briefly later on: “I am here for gold. I will fight anybody, I will fight them all,” she said. To the Algerian Public television, she said, “I tell the Algerian people that I am working to provide the best I can in order to make them happy.” Controversy over Khelif The decision to allow Khelif participate at the Olympics has already brought the International Olympic Council under fire. Last year, Khelif was disqualified just hours before her gold-medal bout in the World Championships in New Delhi. At that time she had failed to meet International Boxing Association’s (IBA) eligibility criteria. Even Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting’s bronze medal at the Delhi event was taken off for not meeting the same criteria. According to IBA president Umar Kremlev their DNA tests had “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded”. XY is the male chromosome, while XX is the female one. However, both these boxers were allowed to participate at the Paris Olympics as the IBA is no longer recognised by the IOC. The boxing events at the Games are conducted by an-ad hoc body called Paris Boxing Unit (PBU), formed by the IOC’s Executive Board. On the eve of the fight against Carini, the IBA said that Khelif had initially appealed their decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but withdrew the appeal during the process. In other words, the IBA believes their decision is legally binding. Yu-ting, who is set to take the ring on Friday, didn’t even press for an appeal. The IOC, though, maintains that both these boxers cleared its eligibility test, but it hasn’t explained what they are. Support and criticism Reem Alsalem, the UN Special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, expressed her concern about what had happened to Carini on X. “Angela Carini rightly followed her instincts and prioritized her physical safety, but she and other female athletes should not have been exposed to this physical and psychological violence based on their sex,” she tweeted. Even Giorgia Meloni, the Italian PM, weighed in, saying: “I think that athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women’s competitions. And not because you want to discriminate against someone, but to protect the right of female athletes to be able to compete on equal terms. Khelif did find support from former world champion boxer from Ireland Amy Broadhurst, who tweeted, “Have a lot of people texting me over Imane Khelif. Personally I don’t think she has done anything to ‘cheat’. I think it’s the way she was born & that’s out of her control. The fact that she has been beaten by 9 females before says it all.” The author JK Rowling too chipped in, criticising the organisers for allowing Khelif to box in the event. “Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better? The smirk of a male who knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered.”
