Italian Olympic boxer Angela Carini walked out of her fight against Imane Khelif to make the Algerian boxer the winner after just 46 seconds.
Carini and Khelif stepped in to the ring at Paris 2024 today (1 August), but only exchanged a few punches before Carini abandoned the welterweight 16 round bout altogether.
The Italian boxer’s headgear appeared to become dislodged twice before she gave up, and she refused to shake Khelif’s hand after she was announced as winner.
Carini also appeared to get emotional in the ring before she stepped away from the bout.
The Italian boxer appeared to be in tears after the bout (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Commenting on her decision, she said: “I have always honoured my country with loyalty. This time I didn’t succeed because I couldn’t fight anymore. So I put an end to the match.”
The surprising end to the fight came after Kheli was disqualified from the world championships in 2023 after she failed an unspecified gender eligibility test due to what the International Boxing Association claimed were elevated levels of testosterone.
According to a Reuters report, she failed due to the IBA eligibility rules prevent athletes with XY chromosomes from competing in women’s events.
Speaking about the fight, Carini said: “I have always honoured my country with loyalty,” Carini said. “This time I didn’t succeed because I couldn’t fight anymore,” (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
The Algerian boxer previously won a silver medal at the International Boxing Association’s 2022 world championships.
Prior to the fight, the Algerian Olympic Committee issued a statement criticising what it described as ‘lies’ and claiming there was ‘unethical targeting and maligning of our esteemed athlete, Imane Khelif, with baseless propaganda from certain foreign media outlets’.
