Furor Over Italian Boxer Angela Carini’s Fight With Opponent Who Failed Gender Eligibility Test Rages: Here’s What You Need to Know

Algeria's Imane Khelif, left, fights Italy's Angela Carini in their women's 66kg preliminary boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/John Locher)
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The internet erupted Thursday over the latest Olympics controversy: Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned her fight against Algerian opponent Imane Khelif just 46 seconds into their match.

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The shocking and painful moment, which included Carini breaking down in tears inside the ring, is further igniting controversy over allowing biological men to compete in female sports.

But at this point, it’s unclear if this match definitively meets that criteria.

Khelif — whom outlets like Fox News have said was “deemed to have male chromosomes” — is allegedly one of two boxers competing at the Olympic games this year who previously failed gender eligibility tests and, as a result, was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships, according to The Guardian.

However, Khelif reportedly doesn’t identify as transgender. Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, the second boxer to have purportedly failed gender eligibility tests, also hasn’t embraced the label, according to Time.

The outlet has more:

The controversy of their gender has swept over the sport since last year, when the two were both disqualified from the World Championships in New Delhi after they were on track to win medals but failed an eligibility test.

The International Boxing Association (IBA), the organizer of the World Championships, said at the time that athletes who “pretended to be women” were excluded based on tests that showed “they have XY chromosomes.” (Women typically have XX chromosome pairs, and men typically have XY pairs. Neither Khelif nor Lin have ever identified as men, as transgender, or as intersex—which refers to people with both male and female sex characteristics.)

The IBA released a statement Wednesday addressing the situation surrounding both Khelif and Yu-ting.

“On 24 March 2023, IBA disqualified athletes Lin Yu-ting and Imane Khelif from the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships New Delhi 2023,” it read. “This disqualification was a result of their failure to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition, as set and laid out in the IBA Regulations. This decision, made after a meticulous review, was extremely important and necessary to uphold the level of fairness and utmost integrity of the competition.”

The IBA went on to say the athletes didn’t undergo a testosterone exam but went through “a separate and recognized test” with specifics that “remain confidential.”

That test, according to the IBA, found the individuals “did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors.”

Questions Remain

Questions remain, though many have claimed the battle between Carini and Khelif was a match between a woman and a “man” and was, thus, imbalanced and unfair.

Some, though, have speculated the issue at play could involve a Difference of Sexual Development (DSD), something NHS describes as “a group of rare conditions involving genes, hormones and reproductive organs, including genitals.” But, again, these details are speculative and unconfirmed.

Video of the fight between Carini and Khelif has only fueled furor and accusations.

With the fight lasting under a minute, Carini could be seen kneeling down in tears, giving up before she could sustain another blow to the face. At one point, she reportedly said, “This is unjust.”

In a post-match interview, Carini expounded upon her reasons for stepping out of the competition.

“I have never been hit so hard in my life,” she said.

Carini added, “I felt a severe pain in my nose, and with the maturity of a boxer, I said ‘enough,’ because I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to, I couldn’t finish the match.”

Her coach, Emanuel Renzini, confirmed she was in pain and added that some had warned her not to fight Khelif.

“I don’t know if her nose is broken,” Renzini said. “I have to speak with the girl. But many people in Italy tried to call and tell her: “Don’t go, please: it’s a man, it’s dangerous for you.”

Outrage Spreads

Outrage, shock, frustration, and heartbreak overtook social media, with claims being made about the fighter’s gender that have not yet been substantiated.

Former competitive swimmer Riley Gaines — who has warned in recent days that women face injury or death as a result of allowing biologically male fighters to compete — was among those speaking out.

“Men don’t belong in women’s sports,” she posted on X, with the hashtag #IStandWithAngelaCarini.

And Gaines wasn’t done there.

“After 46 seconds and a few hits to the face by a male, Carini forfeited the fight,” she wrote in a separate post. “Call me crazy, but it’s almost as if women don’t want to be punched in the face by a male as the world watches and applauds. This is glorified male violence against women.”

“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling — no stranger to speaking out on the transgender issue — released her own statement on X Thursday, lamenting the Olympics would be “tarnished” by what unfolded.

“A young female boxer has just had everything she’s worked and trained for snatched away because you allowed a male to get in the ring with her,” she wrote, commenting directly on comments made by an International Olympic Committee official. “You’re a disgrace.”

Here are some of the other responses to the fight:

Another Perspective

But others take a different view. Amy Broadhurst, the World Champion 2022 who beat Khelif in the past, cited nine women who have reportedly won against the boxer.

“Have a lot of people texting me over Imane Khelif,” she wrote on X. “Personally, I don’t think she has done anything to ‘cheat.’ I think it’s the way she was born [and] that’s out of her control. The fact that she has been beating [sic] by [nine] females before says it all.”

As for Carini, she made it known she is proud to have even gotten into the ring.

“I’m not here to judge,” she said. “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’s not giving in, it’s having the dignity to say enough. I was convinced I would win, I was concentrated, serene. But these punches to the nose hurt, I said enough,” she said, according to The Guardian.

CBN News will continue to cover the story as it develops.

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