Angela Carini abandons Olympic fight after 46 seconds against Imane Khelif

At the Paris Olympics on Thursday, a boxer whose gender identity has recently been questioned won her first fight.

Angela Carini of Italy was defeated by Imane Khelif of Algeria 46 seconds after Carini left the match. After only a few punches were exchanged, Carini stopped the fight, avoided shaking Khelif’s hand, and then broke down in tears.

Following reports that she and another boxer from Taiwan, Lin Yuting, failed to meet gender eligibility tests at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi last year, Khelif’s participation in Olympic women’s boxing has been scrutinized in recent days. Sports officials claimed at the time that the boxers failed a test because they had male chromosomes.

The 25-year-old Khelif has always competed as a woman, including at the Tokyo Olympics, and there is no indication that she is transgender or intersex—the latter term referring to people born with sex characteristics that do not strictly fit into the male-female gender binary. Khelif has never said that she is transgender or intersex.

Carini claimed that she ended the fight on Thursday due to a “severe pain” in her nose. She went on to say that she is unqualified to decide whether Khelif should have been permitted to compete.

Carini told reporters after the match, “I am not here to judge or pass judgment.” It’s not up to me to decide if an athlete behaves this way, whether it’s wrong or right.

Some people were more reserved.

During a visit to the Olympic Village, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told reporters, “We have to pay attention, in an attempt to not discriminate, that we are actually discriminating” against women. Your dedication, head and character, as well as having a common arm, are what count in these matters.

Several politicians in the United States, including former President Donald Trump, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, also shared their thoughts on the match.

“I WILL ELIMINATE MEN FROM WOMEN’S SPORTS!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform.

The victory of Khelif also sparked responses from a number of well-known people who are frequently criticized for remarks they have made about transgender people.

In a series of posts on X, “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling repeatedly referred to Khelif as “male” and referred to the match as a “brutal injustice.” Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who has recently come under fire for remarks he made about his estranged trans daughter, also commented on X, which he owns. Musk, who endorsed Trump a month ago, wrote in response to a post that included a video of the fight and read, “Kamala supports this…vote accordingly.” either that or let her deny it.

Khelif did not go unsupported, even though the majority of online responses appear to be critical.

Khelif was defended by Ismal Bennacer, a soccer player for the Algerian national team.

On X, he wrote, “Full support for our champion Imane Khelif, who is suffering from a wave of unjustified hatred.” “Her presence at the Olympic Games is simply the result of her talent and hard work,” he wrote.

Khelif celebrated her victory on social media by posting the caption “first Victory” to an Instagram photo of herself from Thursday’s fight. She did not respond to the post’s criticisms; She has claimed that a “conspiracy” was the reason she was disqualified from the world championships last year.

The International Olympic Committee criticized the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) decision to exclude Taiwan’s Lin and Khelif from the Women’s World Boxing Championships last year and the backlash they faced during the Olympics.

The statement included the following: “The current aggression against these two athletes is entirely based on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure — especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years.” A strategy of this kind goes against good governance.

In its statement, the IOC said that last year it stopped recognizing the IBA. After years of governance and financial transparency issues, as well as alleged instances of corruption, the relationship was severed.

Rather than the IBA, the IOC alludes to the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit — a specially appointed unit it created — for its qualification principles. “As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport,” the IOC stated in its statement on Thursday.

A request for clarification regarding the criticisms surrounding Khelif’s victory was not met with a response from the Algerian Olympic and Sports Committee.

On Wednesday, Algeria’s minister of youth and sports, Abderrahmane Hammad, addressed concerns regarding Khelif’s gender identity.

He wrote on X, “These cowardly attempts to tarnish her reputation are utterly unacceptable. I strongly condemn the baseless attacks on our athlete, Imane Khelif, by certain foreign outlets.”