Imane Khelif will square off at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, just two days following her contentious bout with Angela Carini in the boxing ring.
Just 46 seconds into her round-of-16 match on Thursday, August 1, Italy’s Carini submitted to Khelif after the Algerian delivered a big blow.
Khelif failed a gender eligibility test and was thus disqualified from the women’s World Championships in New Delhi last year. Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting was also disqualified from the same competition for not meeting the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) requirements for gender eligibility. On Friday, August 2, Lin is scheduled to compete at the Olympics.
The IBA clarified that none of the boxers had their testosterone levels checked, but it did not explain why they did not pass their gender eligibility tests. Khelif, 25, and neither two-time world champion Lin, 28, identify as transgender or intersex.
Khelif’s win over Carini sparked controversy, as the latter withdrew after the Algerian landed the first clean punch of the fight. Carini immediately turned to her team and opted against continuing, and the Italian soon collapsed to her knees in tears. Carini, 25, could be heard telling her coach, “It’s not right, it’s not right,” and she later told reporters that she had never been hit so hard in her career.
Khelif is next scheduled to fight on Saturday, August 3, at 4.22 BST. Her opponent is not yet known, but a victory would guarantee the Algerian a bronze medal at 66 kg and the chance to compete for silver or gold. Lin is scheduled to fight Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova at 2.30 pm BST on Friday, August 2, in a round-of-16 at about 57 kg.
Carini, speaking after her fight with Khelif, said: “For me, it’s not a defeat. For me, when you climb those ropes, you’re already a warrior; you’re already a winner. Regardless of everything, it’s okay, fine like this. I didn’t lose tonight. I only did my job as a fighter. I got in the ring and I fought. I didn’t make it. I’m coming out with my head held high and with a broken heart.
“I’m a mature woman. The ring is my life. I’ve always been very instinctive, and when I feel that something isn’t right, it’s not giving up. It’s having the maturity to stop, it’s having the maturity to say: ‘OK, that’s enough.’”
“I got in the ring and I said: ‘I’m going to give it all I’ve got, regardless of the person in front of me, who doesn’t interest me at this moment.’ I had to give my best. So, with regard to all the controversies, I was never interested. I went in and I just wanted to win.” Speaking to the BBC, she added: “It could have been the match of a lifetime, but I had to preserve my life as well in that moment.”
The 2023 Women’s World Championships were run by the IBA, which is no longer recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Instead, this summer’s Olympic boxing is being run by the Paris Boxing Unit (PBU), an ad-hoc unit established by the IOC’s Executive Board.
The IOC said in a statement at the start of the tournament: “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 under rules 1.4 and 3.1 of the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit.
“The PBU endeavored to restrict amendments to minimize the impact on athletes’ preparation and guarantee consistency between Olympic Games.”
