Algeria’s Imane Khelif, one of two female Olympic boxers disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing gender eligibility tests, entered the ring Thursday at the Paris Games.
Her bout ended in abrupt and bizarre fashion.
Khelif prevailed when Italy’s Angela Carini stopped fighting after 46 seconds.
Carini was punched in the nose and shortly afterward said she didn’t want to fight anymore, according to Italian coach Emanuele Renzini
“After one punch she feel big pain,” Renzini told reporters,.
Carini wept when speaking with reporters after the fight and spoke only in Italian. Translation of her comments was not immediately available.
But Renzini said Carini had been told not to take the fight and it had been weighing on her as the bout approached.
During the first round, Carini consulted with her coach twice before the fight was halted. Officially, Khelif won by ABD (abandoned).
The crowd at North Paris Arena greeted Khelif with cheers before the abbreviated fight at the Summer Olympics and several Algeria flags were seen among the crowd. The fight in the welterweight division at 66 kg (146 pounds) was scheduled for three three-minute rounds.
The issue of gender eligibility criteria surfaced at the 2023 world championships when Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan both won medals in the women’s competition before tournament officials announced the boxers had failed gender eligibility tests. They were stripped of their medals.
