Algerian Imane Khelif’s Paris Olympics welterweight fight against Angela Carini in the round of 16 lasted 46 seconds after the Italian had to stop following a powerful punch to the nose.
Khelif is one of two boxers in France in the spotlight after previously failing International Boxing Association (IBA) eligibility rules.
She was ruled eligible, however, to compete in Paris, a competition run by the IOC, after the Olympic body stripped the IBA of international recognition last year over issues related to governance and finance.
Khelif entered the packed North Paris arena amid loud cheers from fans waving Algeria flags, and the Italian was instantly no match for her opponent’s speed and longer reach.
Carini went to her coach after 30 seconds to fix her headgear but after briefly resuming the fight, she returned to her corner and stopped before quickly leaving the ring.
“I put an end to the match because after the second blow, after years of experience in the ring and a life of fighting, I felt a strong pain in my nose,” she said.
“I said: ‘That’s enough’ because … I could not bring the match to an end. So I thought, maybe it’s better to put an end to the match.”
Carini wept while talking to reporters before being taken away.
Wyatt Sanford of Kennetcook, N.S., beat Ruslan Abdullaev of Uzbekistan in the men’s 63.5 kilogram quarterfinals, to advance to the semifinals where he’s guaranteed at least a bronze medal at Paris 2024.
IOC dispute with sport’s governing body
Some sports have limited the levels of testosterone allowed for athletes competing in women’s competition, while others ban everyone who has been through male puberty.
Boxing is run by the International Olympic Committee after the IBA’s recognition was stripped because of longstanding corruption concerns, and it has not updated eligibility rules but used those applied in previous Olympics.
The IOC has cleared the way for Khelif as well as Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting, who lost her bronze medal at last year’s world championships after she failed to meet the criteria for the same reason, to compete at the Games.
“What I would say is that this involves real people and we are talking about real people’s lives here,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said on Thursday.
“They have competed and they continue to compete in the women’s competition. They have lost and they have won against other women over the years.”
Khelif lost in the first round at the 2019 world championships, and also exited in the first round at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, postponed one year due to the pandemic.
The Algerian then won silver at the 2022 worlds, and was about to compete in the final again a year later at the championships when the IBA issued its disqualification over what Algerian media reported were elevated testosterone levels just before the gold medal match.
Italian PM angered by result
The IOC decision caused a stir before the Games, with some warning of safety concerns for the boxers’ opponents.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Carini’s bout against Khelif was “not an even contest.”
“I think that athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women’s competitions,” Meloni said.
“And not because you want to discriminate against someone, but to protect the right of female athletes to be able to compete on equal terms.”
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.”
Taiwan’s Lin will face Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova in a featherweight bout in Paris on Friday.