Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, who had gender test issue, wins match after opponent abandons fight

An Olympic boxing match between Imane Khelif of Algeria and Angela Carini of Italy ended after Carini quit just 46 seconds into the match.

Carini’s opponent, according to the Associated Press, had failed an unspecified gender eligibility test and was disqualified from the 2023 world championships.

But Carini’s decision to withdraw from the match was not “a political statement” or “refusing to fight Khelif.” Instead, Carini described an intense pain in her nose after the opening blows in the boxing match, a pain intense enough to cause her to quit.

Carini also demurred on the question of whether Imane Khelif should be allowed to fight.

“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 did not speak to reporters after the bout.

According to the Associated Press, Imane Khelif is one of two athletes in the Paris Olympic Games under scrutiny over gender testing. Writes the organization:

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.”

*** View the medal count through July 31, 2024 ***