Olympic boxer who quit after 46 seconds lands massive payout despite defeat in controversial gender row
Carini has apologised to Imane Khelif
OLYMPIC boxer Angela Carini is set for a massive payout after her controversial 46-second defeat.
The Italian stopped her fight against Algeria’s Imane Khelif after receiving two strong punches to the face, refused to shake hands with her opponent and then collapsed to the canvas sobbing.
But the bout sparked controversy as Khelif had been disqualified by the International Boxing Association during last year’s world championship after failing unspecified gender eligibility tests.
The IBA have since vowed to hand Carini a payout “as if she were an Olympic champion.”
There is no suggestion that Khelif, who has fought on the women’s circuit for years, including in the, identifies as anything other than a woman.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) cleared her to fight at the Paris Games as they use the gender stated on the passport as their criterion for eligibility.
President Thomas Bach said: “We are talking about women’s boxing.
“We have two boxers who are born as a woman, who were raised as women, who have passports as women who have competed for many years as women.
“This is the clear definition of a woman.”
Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting appear to be caught in the crossfire of a row between the IBA and the IOC, which ejected the boxing body from the Olympic movement after financial and ethical irregularities.
Referring to Carini’s reaction at the end of the bout, IBA President Umar Kremlev said: “I couldn’t look at her tears.
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“I am not indifferent to such situations, and I can assure that we will protect each boxer. I do not understand why they kill women’s boxing.
“Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety.”
The IBA said it was awarding all gold medallists $100,000 (£78,000), of which $25,000 will go to the national federation and $25,000 to the coach.
It was not immediately clear how much Carini would be offered and the IBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Carini, 25, has since apologised for not congratulating her opponent.
She told the Gazzetta dello Sport: “All the controversy made me sad and I’m sorry for my opponent too.
Olympics gender controversy
THE International Olympic Committee (IOC) stirred up a huge controversy by clearing two women to box who had previously failed a gender test.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting were disqualified at the Women’s World Championships in New Delhi, India, in March 2023.
Lin Yu-ting was stripped of a bronze medal after failing a gender eligibility test.
Khelif was disqualified in New Delhi for failing a testosterone level test.
Officials found tests showed they had ‘XY chromosomes’ — which indicates a person is biologically male.
Rare ‘intersex’ medical conditions, medically known as differences in sexual development (DSDs), can also mean outwardly female individuals can have ‘male’ chromosomes, or vice versa.
The Russia-led International Boxing Association organised that event but is no longer recognised by the IOC.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said: “These athletes have competed many times before for many years, they haven’t just suddenly arrived – they competed in Tokyo.
“The federation needs to make the rules to make sure that there is fairness but at the same time there is the ability for everyone to take part that wants to. That is a difficult balance.
“In the end the experts for each sport are the people who work in that. If there is a big advantage that clearly is not acceptable, but that needs to be a decision made at that level.”
Both Khelif and Lin competed at the delayed Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. Lin is a two-time winner at the Asian Women Amateur Boxing Championships.
The IOC said all boxers in Paris “comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations”.
The controversy follows the famous case of Caster Semenya.
South African middle-distance runner Semenya has a condition which means her body naturally produces higher levels of testosterone than normal for women.
She won gold in the 800m at London 2012 and Rio in 2016 but was unable to compete at Tokyo in 2021 after World Athletics brought in new rules independently of the IOC at the time.
“It’s nothing to do with her. She was here like me to fight.
“I was angry because my Olympics had just gone up in smoke but I’ve nothing against Imane Khelif. On the contrary, if I saw her again, I’d give her a hug.”
Khelif fights later Saturday in the women’s 66kg quarter-final against Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori, with victory guaranteeing her medal, as all semi-finalists get at least bronze.
Yu-Ting is fighting Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori tomorrow.
IOC and Paris 2024 Boxing Unit statement in full
A look at the full statement issued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit...
Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination.
All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU). As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport.
These rules also applied during the qualification period, including the boxing tournaments of the 2023 European Games, Asian Games, Pan American Games and Pacific Games, the ad hoc 2023 African qualifying tournament in Dakar (SEN) and two world qualifying tournaments held in Busto Arsizio (ITA) and Bangkok (THA) in 2024, which involved a total of 1,471 different boxers from 172 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), the Boxing Refugee Team and Individual Neutral Athletes, and featured over 2,000 qualification bouts.
The PBU used the Tokyo 2020 boxing rules as a baseline to develop its regulations for Paris 2024. This was to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparations and guarantee consistency between Olympic Games. These Tokyo 2020 rules were based on the post-Rio 2016 rules, which were in place before the suspension of the boxing International Federation by the IOC in 2019 and the subsequent withdrawal of its recognition in 2023.
We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.
These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.
According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA should “establish a clear procedure on gender testing”.
The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely 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.
Such an approach is contrary to good governance.
Eligibility rules should not be changed during ongoing competition, and any rule change must follow appropriate processes and should be based on scientific evidence.
The IOC is committed to protecting the human rights of all athletes participating in the Olympic Games as per the Olympic Charter, the IOC Code of Ethics and the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights. The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving.
The IBA’s recognition was withdrawn by the IOC in 2023 following its suspension in 2019. The withdrawal of recognition was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). See the IOC’s statement following the ruling.
The IOC has made it clear that it needs National Boxing Federations to reach a consensus around a new International Federation in order for boxing to be included on the sports programme of the Olympic Games LA28.