Yesterday (1 August) Italy’s Angela Carini stepped into the boxing ring at the 2024 Paris Olympics against Algeria’s Imane Khelif as part of the women’s 66kg category. However, Carini decided to bow out not even in a minute in.
After only several punches were thrown and her headgear having already become dislodged, Carini grew emotional in the ring and ultimately decided to walk away, not shaking her opponent’s hand when it was later ruled Khelif won.
Speaking out after the fight, Carini said she stopped because she simply ‘couldn’t fight anymore’.
Angela Carini and Imane Khelif’s Olympics match lasted less than a minute. (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
She added: “I put an end to the match because after the second blow, after years of experience in the ring and a life of fighting, I felt a strong pain in my nose.
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“I said ‘that’s enough’ because […] I could not bring the match to an end. So I thought, maybe it’s better to put an end to the match.”
And a lip reader has since revealed what they believe Carini said shortly after deciding to withdraw from the fight, just before she stepped out of the ring.
A lip-reader told Gazzetta dello Sport after Carini was punched by Khelif, she briefly stopped due to a problem with her helmet.
However, she then raised her hand and returned to her corner and decided to leave the fight.
She then reportedly turned to her support in the corner and said: “It hurt like hell.”
Carini bowed out of the match under a minute in. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The match has faced intense scrutiny online as a result of Khelif previously being disqualified in last year’s IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi – organized by the International Boxing Association – for failing a testosterone level test, IBA’s website states.
However, it’s not been publicly released what the test consisted of and no further details have been given, the BBC reports.
What’s more, the International Olympic Committee said in a statement: “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 in accordance with rules 1.4 and 3.1 of the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit.”
IOC spokesperson, Mark Adams said: “These boxers are entirely eligible – they are women on their passports. It’s not helpful to start stigmatising people like this.
“We all have a responsibility not to turn it into some kind of witch-hunt.”
