Who Is Angela Carini? Boxer Who Aborted Olympic Fight Against Imane Khelif

The Italian boxer Angela Carini broke down in tears after she abandoned her bout against the Algerian Imane Khelif after 46 seconds in a fight at the Paris Olympics 2024. This occurrence has sparked the audience and led to a huge controversy worldwide. 

Khelif is one of two boxers who is permitted to fight at the Olympics despite being disqualified from the women’s world championships last year for failing the gender eligibility tests.

In highly charged scenes at the North Paris Arena, the first punch that came from Khelif got dislodged in Carini’s chinstrap and in a second she smashed against her chin and ultimately bloodied her shorts. After multiple punches, Carini returned to her corner and raised her hand. She fell to her knees sobbing and refused to shake Khelif’s hand after the Algerian was declared the winner.

Following this, Carini claimed how she had pulled out after being hit harder than she had ever been hit and feared her nose was brutally broken. “I am heartbroken,” Carini said. “I went to the ring to honour my father. I was told a lot of times that I was a warrior but I preferred to stop for my health. I have never felt a punch like this," she adds with grief.

Carini said "Enough" without any regrets

The 25-year-old, from Naples, believes that she got into the ring to fight and didn’t give up till the very end until one punch hurt her so much that she had to resort to saying "enough". "I'm going out with my head held high, " she adds, rightly believing that it was better to end it.

Carini cries in sorrow while she says, "I am in pieces because I am a fighter, they taught me to be a warrior. I have always tried to behave with honour and have passionately represented my country with loyalty. But this very time I didn’t manage to because I couldn’t fight anymore. Regardless of the person I had in front, of me, which didn’t interest me, and regardless of all the rows, I just wanted to win. I wanted to face the person that I had in front of me and to fight.”

Asked if it would have been better to pull out beforehand, Carini comments that she does not give in easily. Not even if they had said that we wouldn’t fight she would never have accepted it as she possesses a warrior’s mentality but the mishap led her to reach her saturation point.

“It’s not a defeat for me, if you go in the ring you have already won, regardless of everything else. I’m not here to judge. It’s not up to me to say if it’s fair or not fair. I just did my job. I managed to leave with my head held high. I’m a mature woman; when I feel I cannot continue, it is not giving in, it is instead having the dignity to say enough. I was convinced I would win, I was concentrated and serene. But these punches to the nose hurt so I said enough."

Meanwhile, Khelif stopped briefly to speak to the BBC, “I am here for gold,” the Algerian said. “I will fight anybody, I will fight them all.”Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, expressed her concern about the tormented incident. “Angela Carini rightly followed her instincts and prioritized her physical safety, but she and other female athletes should not have been exposed to this physical and psychological violence based on their sex,” she tweeted.        

Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister thinks that athletes with male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women’s competitions from my point of view it was not an even contest. Before the fight, The International Olympic Committee (IOC) came under fire for permitting Khelif and Lin Yu‑ting of Taiwan to compete in the women’s category at these Games. On Friday, Lin will face Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova in a featherweight bout in Paris.       

Last year both fighters were disqualified from the world championships, with the International Boxing Association (IBA) president, Umar Kremlev, saying that DNA tests had “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded." 

Although,  last night the IOC issued a statement that confirmed that both boxers had complied with its entry regulations and have been competing in international boxing competitions in the women’s category since then. As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passports.

On Wednesday Australia’s boxing captain, Caitlin Parker expressed her fears that one of her teammates is fighting in the same 66kg weight category as Khelif. “I don’t agree with them being allowed to compete in sport, especially combat sports,” Parker said. “It can be incredibly dangerous", she adds. Agence France-Presse reported that Khelif claimed to be the victim of a big conspiracy after being disqualified just before the final at last year’s world championships.

The Algerian Olympic Committee (COA) expressed on Wednesday that it strongly condemns the unethical targeting and maligning of the esteemed athlete, Imane Khelif, with baseless propaganda from certain foreign media outlets. “Such attacks on her personality and dignity are deeply unfair, especially as she prepares for the pinnacle of her career at the Olympics. The COA has taken all necessary measures to protect our champion," they added.

Corresponding to this, Luca Anna Hamori, a Hungarian boxer who is due to face Khelif in the next round, said she was prepared. “I will go to the ring and I will get my win. I trust my coaches and I trust myself.”