ANGELA Carini is an Olympic boxer who’s found herself in the centre of the ongoing gender row.
The welterweight walked out of her fight against Imane Khelif at Paris 2024 after just 46 seconds.
Who is Olympic boxer Angela Carini?
Angela Carini is a boxer who competes in the 66-kilogram (145.5-pound) class, otherwise known as welterweight.
She won silver medals at both the world and European championships in 2019.
Carini is also a gold medalist after scooping the top prize at the European Youth Championships.
The impressive boxer goes by the nickname, “tiger,” which she revealed was given to her by her father, Giuseppe.
Which country did Olympic boxer Angela Carini represent?
Born on October 6, 1998, in Naples, Carini is on Team Italy at Paris 2024.
This is the second time she has represented her country after competing in the Tokoyo 2020 Games.
Before taking up boxing, Carini was an Italian champion in clay pigeon shooting.
She made the switch to follow her brother, who also left shooting for boxing.
“My brother and my father taught me boxing,” Carini said, “I owe everything to them.”
When did Angela Carini fight Imane Khelif?
Angela Carini fought Imane Khelif in the women’s welterweight event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The bout took place on Thursday, August 1.
But it was over after just 46 seconds when Carini made the decision to walk out of the ring.
What happened in the Carini vs Khelif boxing match?
Carini left after taking two fierce shots to the face in the first round.
After the first blow, she walked over to her corner to seemingly have her chin strap adjusted.
But after Khelif, 25, landed a second powerful blow, the fight was abruptly ended.
The boxer from Naples didn’t acknowledge her opponent following the 66kg welterweight fight.
I’ve never taken a punch like that, it’s impossible to continue
Angela Carini
Shortly after Khelif tried to approach her, Carini fell to her knees and burst into tears.
Before the fight, Eugenia Roccella, Italy’s family minister, and Andrea Abodi, the sports minister, had voiced their concerns about the eligibility rules at Paris 2024.
Following the fight, a spokesperson for the Italian team revealed that friends and family told Carini not to even enter the ring.
Last year Khelif was not allowed by the International Boxing Association (IBA) to compete in the Women’s World Championships after failing to meet gender eligibility criteria.
This was due to elevated levels of testosterone.
However, the Russia-led IBA is no longer recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Khelif has been cleared to compete in Paris.
The IOC told reporters that all boxers “comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations”.
What has Carini said about Imane Khelif?
The Italian boxer’s tears continued as she spoke to the press after the bout.
Opening up on her decision to quit, Carini said: “I couldn’t carry on. I have a big pain in my nose and I said, ‘Stop’.
“It’s better to avoid keeping going. My nose started dripping from the first hit.
“It could be the match of my life but, in that moment, I had to safeguard my life, too. I felt to do this, I didn’t have any fear, I don’t have any fear of the ring or to get hit.
“I fought very often in the national team. I train with my brother. I’ve always fought against men, but I felt too much pain today.”
“I am heartbroken. I have big pain in my nose and blood on my finger.”
She added: “I’m used to suffering. I’ve never taken a punch like that, it’s impossible to continue. I’m nobody to say it’s illegal.
“I got into the ring to fight. But I didn’t feel like it anymore after the first minute. I started to feel a strong pain in my nose.
“I didn’t give up, but a punch hurt too much and so I said enough. I’m leaving with my head held high.
“I am sorry not to have taken Italy onto the podium. I entered the ring and I told myself I have to take out all of myself independently from the person I had in front of me.
“And honestly, I don’t care. I said to myself, ‘This is my Olympics’. Independently, from all controversy, I just wanted to carry on and win.’
“I am not one that easily surrenders. Even if they told me, let’s not fight, I would not have accepted it.
“I am a fighter. My father taught me to be a warrior.
“When I am in the ring, I use that mindset, the mindset of a warrior, a winning mindset. This time I couldn’t make it.
“You all saw my nose that started bleeding. I didn’t lose tonight, I just surrendered with maturity.”
Carini bears no ill will towards Khelif, saying: “I wish her to carry on until the end and that she can be happy.
“I am someone who doesn’t judge anyone. I am not here to give judgements.
“I simply entered the ring to fight and to fight for my dream. It didn’t happen. Evidently, God and my father wanted this and I accept it.
“I am not in the position of saying this is right or wrong. I am not.
“I did my job as a boxer, entering the ring and fighting.
“I didn’t manage to, but I am exiting with my head held high and with a broken heart. I am a mature woman, the ring is my life.
“I’ve always been very instinctive, but when I feel something is not going well, it’s not a surrender but having the maturity to stop.”
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.
