The match between Khelif and Carini lasted 46 seconds, and the two opponents exchanged only a few punches before Carini walked away and abandoned the fight.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif, a boxer who was disqualified from the 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships for failing to meet unspecified gender eligibility criteria, won a women’s opening Olympics match in Paris on Aug. 1 against Italy’s Angela Carini.
The match between Khelif and Carini lasted a mere 46 seconds, and the two opponents exchanged only a few punches before Carini walked away and abandoned the fight.
A tearful Carini—who is about two inches shorter than her opponent—said she ended the match because she “felt a strong pain” in her nose after the opening punches.
“You all saw my nose that started bleeding. I didn’t lose tonight, I just surrendered with maturity. I am a mature woman, the ring is my life,” Carini said in a post-match interview.
“I’ve always been very instinctive, but when I feel something is not going well, it’s not a surrender but having the maturity to stop.”
Carini didn’t shake Khelif’s hand following the conclusion of the match, and she was seen crying in the center of the ring on her knees as she said in Italian, “It’s not fair.”
Khelif will face Hungary’s Luca Anna Hamori of the women’s 66-kilogram division in the quarterfinals on Aug. 3. Hamori defeated Australia’s Marissa Williamson in a unanimous points decision 5-0 on Aug. 1.
“First, I thank all the Algerian people, after this first victory,” Khelif said after the match concluded. “I hope to achieve a second victory to secure a medal, and then think about the gold medal.”
Previous Failure to Meet Eligibility Requirements
However, Khelif’s victory was met with controversy. At last year’s women’s boxing world championships in New Delhi, India, the International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu Ting—a three-time medalist—because they failed to meet eligibility rules that prevent athletes with XY chromosomes from competing in women’s events.
