Italian boxer Angela Carini pulled out of the Paris Olympics mid-fight on Thursday after she sustained a series of crunching blows from her Algerian opponent Imane Khelif, who last year failed a gender eligibility test at the World Championships.
Khelif, whose participation in the Games was permitted by the IOC and had divided boxers, landed multiple punches in the first 30 seconds before a powerful right to Carini’s nose prompted the Italian to raise her hand and return to her corner.
Her coach signaled she was withdrawing from the women’s welterweight round of 16 bout. A distraught Carini fell to her knees in the ring, sobbing and declining to shake Khelif’s hand after the referee declared the Algerian the winner.
Khelif and Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting were cleared to fight in Paris after the IOC last year stripped the IBA of its status as boxing’s governing body over governance issues, and took charge of the Paris 2024 boxing competition.
Both had been disqualified at the 2023 World Championships after failing International Boxing Association (IBA) eligibility rules that prevent athletes with male XY chromosomes from competing in women’s events.
The IOC’s Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-discrimination based on gender identity and sex variations, offers guidelines to federations on ensuring inclusion and fairness in sport, including athletes with Differences of Sexual Disorder (DSD).
DSDs are a group of rare conditions involving genes, hormones and reproductive organs. Some people with DSDs are raised as female but have XY sex chromosomes and blood testosterone levels in the male range.
Ahead of Khelif’s bout, IOC spokesman Mark Adams defended the body’s decision for Paris 2024.
“This involves real people and we are talking about real people’s lives here,” he told reporters on Thursday. “They have lost and they have won against other women over the years.”
IBA Chief Executive Chris Roberts, whose organisation’s relationship with the IOC has soured, was disappointed for Carini.
“These two boxers are not allowed to box within IBA. So I find it remarkable how the IOC applies a different condition to this event,” he said.
Broken Dreams
Khelif described the bout as difficult.
“Inshallah for the second fight. I am very prepared because it’s been eight years of preparation,” she told reporters. “I need an Olympic medal here in Paris.”
Women’s sports categories exist in most sports in recognition of the clear advantage that going through male puberty gives an athlete. That advantage is not just through higher testosterone levels but also in muscle mass, skeletal advantage and faster twitch muscle.
British author J.K. Rowling, who has become an outspoken figure on the definition of what it is to be a woman, said Carini’s dreams had been shattered by unjust rules.
