Featured Image Credit: MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images / Richard Pelham/Getty Images
Topics: Boxing, Olympics, Sport, Imane Khelif
Callum Jones
Topics: Boxing, Olympics, Sport, Imane Khelif
The reason why an Olympic boxer is allowed to compete despite failing a gender eligibility test has been revealed.
Angela Carini and Imane Khelif stepped in to the ring during the Paris 2024 Olympics earlier today (1 August), and it made all the headlines.
The bout was very much short lived, as the pair only exchanged a few punches before Carini abandoned the fight altogether.
The Olympic head-to-head lasted just 46 seconds.
Advert
Carini's headgear appeared to become dislodged twice before she threw in the towel, and the Italian even refused to shake Khelif's hand after she was announced as winner.
Speaking about her decision to leave the fight early, Carini 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."
According to the ANSA news agency, she said after the fight: "I went into the ring to fight. I didn't give up, but a punch hurt too much and so I said enough.”
“I'm leaving with my head held high.”
Khelif's much talked about victory came after she was disqualified from the World Championships in 2023 as she failed an unspecified gender eligibility test.
The International Boxing Association claimed at the time the athlete had elevated levels of testosterone.
As per Reuters, Khelif failed due to the IBA eligibility rules preventing athletes with XY chromosomes from competing in women’s events.
The athlete was however ruled eligible to compete in the 2024 Olympics, a competition run by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The IOC came out on Tuesday (30 July) to defend Khelif's rights to compete, prior to her latest win.
"Everyone competing in the women's category is complying with the competition eligibility rules," IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said.
"They are women in their passports, and it's stated that this is the case that they are female."
While the likes of World Aquatics, World Athletics and the International Cycling Union have updated their gender rules in recent years, the IOC has not.
In fact, the sports governing body made its eligibility decisions for Paris based on rules that applied at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Adams added: "What I would say is that this involves real people and we are talking about real people's lives here.
"They have competed and they continue to compete in the women's competition. They have lost and they have won against other women over the years."
