VILLEPINTE, France — 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 that she is not qualified to decide whether Khelif should be allowed to compete, but that 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 Italian 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.
She said it was necessary to guarantee the rights of athletes so they are competing on an even playing field.
“In these things, what counts is your dedication, your head and character, but it also counts having a parity of arms,” Meloni said.
Khelif and Lin are two-time Olympians who fought in the Tokyo Games with no controversy. Lin has been an elite-level amateur boxer for a decade and Khelif for six years. They were allowed to compete in Paris by the IOC task force, which has run the past two Olympic boxing tournaments.
The IOC on Tuesday defended their right to compete. Olympic boxing reached gender parity for the first time this year, with 124 men and 124 women competing in Paris.
“Everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said. “They are women in their passports, and it’s stated that this is the case, that they are female.”
Lin is the top seed in the 57-kilogram category, although Olympic seeding is frequently not indicative of the top medal contenders in a division.
Several sports, including World Aquatics, World Athletics and the International Cycling Union, have updated their gender rules over the past three years. The track body also last year tightened rules on athletes with differences in sex development.
The IOC said it made its eligibility decisions on boxers based on the gender-related rules that applied at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
The IOC oversees boxing in Paris because the IBA has been banned from the past two Olympics because of years of governance problems, a lack of financial transparency and many perceived instances of corruption in judging and refereeing.
The IOC has revoked the Olympic status of the IBA, which is controlled by president Umar Kremlev, who is Russian. He brought in Russian state-owned Gazprom as its primary sponsor and moved much of the IBA’s operations to Russia.
The IBA has since lost more than three dozen members who have formed a new group called World Boxing, which hopes to be recognized by the IOC as the sport’s governing body ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
The IBA has aggressively seized on the boxers’ presence in Paris to criticize the IOC. After the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the IOC’s ban earlier this year, the IBA appealed to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.
The banned body issued a statement Wednesday in which it claimed both boxers did not have a “testosterone examination” last year but were “subject to a separate and recognized test” for their disqualification. The IBA said the test’s “specifics remain confidential,” refusing to explain it.
Women boxers have been asked about Khelif and Lin repeatedly this week. Many have expressed concern, while others have urged more consideration of an obviously complicated issue.
“I don’t agree with that being allowed, especially in combat sports as it can be incredibly dangerous,” Australia middleweight Caitlin Parker said. “But right now, my focus is on getting through each fight. It’s not like I haven’t sparred with guys before, but it can be dangerous for combat sports, and it should be seriously looked into. It is good that these things are coming out, and it’s being put under the spotlight to be looked into further.
“Biologically and genetically, they are going to have more advantages. Combat sports can be dangerous. Fairness is what it’s all about. We all want fairness in sport.”
