Failed gender test last year, Algerian boxer wins 1st bout

Paris, August 1
Italian boxer Angela Carini pulled out of the Olympics after she sustained a series of crunching blows from her Algerian opponent Imane Khelif, who last year failed a gender eligibility test at the World Championships.
Khelif, whose participation in the Games was permitted by the IOC and had divided boxers, landed multiple punches in the first 30 seconds before a powerful right to Carini’s nose prompted the Italian to raise her hand and return to her corner.
Her coach signalled she was pulling out of the women’s welterweight Round of 16 bout. A distraught Carini fell to her knees in the ring, sobbing and declining to shake Khelif’s hand after the referee declared the Algerian the winner. “I am a fighter. My father taught me to be a warrior. When I am in the ring, I use that mindset, the mindset of a warrior, a winning mindset,” Carini said. “This time I couldn’t make it. I didn’t lose tonight, I just surrendered with maturity.”
Khelif and Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting were cleared to fight in Paris after the IOC last year stripped the IBA of its status as boxing’s governing body over governance issues, and took charge of the Paris 2024. — Reuters