Italian boxer Angela Carini withdrew from her quarter-final match at the Paris 2024 Olympics after just 46 seconds, following two strong blows from Algerian fighter Imane Khelif. Khelif had been disqualified from the 2023 Boxing World Championships after failing a gender test, which determined she had “competitive advantages over other female competitors.”
The test was conducted by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which does not organise the boxing competition at the Paris Olympics due to a suspension by the International Olympic Committee(IOC) for financial irregularities and issues with fight officiating. As a result, the regulatory body for boxing at the Olympics is the Boxing Task Force, created by the IOC, which allowed both Imane Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting to compete in Paris 2024.
“On March 24, 2023, the IBA disqualified athletes Lin Yu-ting and Imane Khelif from the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in New Delhi in 2023. This disqualification was due to their failure to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the female competition, as outlined in the IBA Rules,” explained the IBA. “This decision, made after a meticulous review, was extremely important and necessary to maintain fairness and the highest integrity of the competition,” the IBA added in a statement issued on Thursday.
“Point to note, the athletes did not undergo a testosterone test but rather an independent and recognized test, the details of which remain confidential. This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the necessary eligibility criteria and were determined to have competitive advantages over other female competitors,” it continued. Due to the confidentiality of the results, they were not made public, but various Russian media reported that both boxers allegedly have XY chromosomes, typically male, rather than XX chromosomes, as in females.
SIMILAR POSTS
The disqualification of both was based on tests conducted in 2022 and 2023 and was not appealed by Lin Yu-ting, making the decision “legally binding,” according to the IBA. “Lin Yu-ting did not appeal the IBA’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), making the decision legally binding,” it stated, while “Imane Khelif initially appealed the decision to CAS but withdrew the appeal during the process, which also rendered the IBA’s decision legally binding,” the IBA published.
However, the IOC authorised them to compete in the Olympics, leading to the controversy on Thursday with Imane Khelif, who had already secured her Olympic spot by winning the 2022 African Championships. Her Olympic debut in the 66-kilogram category lasted 46 seconds, the time Italian boxer Angela Carini could endure before withdrawing with clear signs of pain after receiving two punches. This decision to withdraw from the fight might be followed by other boxers, as noted in several delegations. For now, the next fight for the Algerian fighter is scheduled for Saturday, August 3, at 17:22 CEST (-2 GMT) against
Hungarian Anna Luca Hamori, in the quarter-finals. Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting will debut against Uzbek Turdibekova on Friday at 15:30 in the round of 16
