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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Malik Ouzia

Olympics 2024: Boxer Angela Carini quits after 46 seconds against Imane Khelif amid eligibility row

The Paris Olympics’s boxing gender storm intensified on Thursday after an Italian fighter abandoned her bout inside a minute against a rival who had failed a sex test.

Angela Carini broke down in tears as she pulled out of the fight after just 46 seconds, having twice been caught by powerful blows from Algerian fighter Imane Khelif.

Khelif was disqualified from last year’s World Championships after failing a test set by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which said at the time that the 25-year-old’s “elevated levels of testosterone failed to meet the eligibility criteria” for women’s competition.

She has, however, been ruled eligible for the Games by the International Olympic Committee and now advances into the second round of the women’s 66kg tournament.

Angela Carini broke down in tears and said she had never been hit so far (AFP via Getty Images)

Speaking afterwards, Carini explained she had never been hit so hard and decided to withdraw because of the intense pain in her nose.

“I’m a mature woman,” she said. “The ring is my life. I’ve always been very instinctive. And when I feel that something isn’t right, it’s not giving up. It’s having the maturity to stop. It’s having the maturity to say: ‘OK, that’s enough’.

“Regardless of everything it’s OK, fine like this. I didn’t lose tonight … I only did my job as a fighter. I got in the ring and I fought. I didn’t make it. I’m coming out with my head held high and with a broken heart.”

Khelif was one of two boxers allowed to compete in Paris despite being disqualified from the World Championships in Delhi, with the other - Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei - due to fight on Friday.

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