Women’s boxer Angela Carini of Italy took on a controversial opponent on Thursday at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as Imane Khelif of Algeria was allowed to compete despite failing gender eligibility tests at the 2023 World Championships. Carini broke her silence on the issue after pulling out of the match just 46 seconds into the fight.
Carini’s coach, Emanuel Renzini, said that many people tried to warn the Italian not to step into the ring, calling Khelif “a man.”
Many people in Italy tried to call and tell her: ‘Don’t go please: It’s a man, it’s dangerous for you,” Renzini said.
Carini decided to fight anyway but took just two punches before pulling out of the fight 46 seconds into the match.
She broke her silence on the issue after the match, giving a 20-minute interview with reporters in which she fought threw tears, saying she had “never taken a punch like that” and that it was “impossible to continue.”
“I’m used to suffering,” Carini said after the match according to Fox News “I’ve never taken a punch like that, it’s impossible to continue. I’m nobody to say it’s illegal.
“I got into the ring to fight. But I didn’t feel like it anymore after the first minute. I started to feel a stronkhelif-angela-carini-boxing-genderg pain in my nose. I didn’t give up, but a punch hurt too much and so I said enough. I’m leaving with my head held high.”
While many have suggested that Khelif is a transgender woman, that is not the case. In fact, it would be illegal for Khelif to be transgender in Algeria, her home country which is predominantly Muslim. Officials have clarified that Khelif is an intersex person who has always identified as a woman and been socialized as a woman.
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