WATCH: Shocking scenes at Paris Olympics as ‘bilogically’ male boxer breaks female opponent’s nose

New Delhi: The sixth day of the Paris Olympics 2024 has been hit by a fresh controversy after Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned her bout against Imane Khelif of Algeria in just 46 seconds at the Arena Paris Nord in Paris on Thursday. The Algerian boxer faced a disqualification from the Women’s World Championship last year after failing an unspecified gender eligibility test.

The 25-year-old Algerian’s participation at the Paris Games has come under scrutiny. The two boxers exchanged a few punches but Carini walked aside the boxing after getting hit with the first blow at 30 seconds to fix her headgear. She resumed the competition only to return to the corner before deciding to stop her fight.

Consequently, Khelif was adjudged winner of this bout but the Algerian’s participation was questioned across the globe after Carini was seen in tears. The Italian pugilist didn’t even shook hands with her opponent as she cried inside the ring while going down on her knees. Her nose was feeling intense pain with blood being spotted on her trunks.

“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,” Carini said,” as quoted by news agency Associated Press.

“I am not here to judge or pass judgment. If an athlete is this way, and in that sense it’s not right or it is right, it’s not up to me to decide. I just did my job as a boxer. I got into the ring and fought. I did it with my head held high and with a broken heart for not having finished the last kilometer,” the 25-year-old Italian athlete added.

Watch the video here:

A couple of punches to the head and it’s all over. /2 pic.twitter.com/6egSrRj51s

— FairPlayForWomen (@fairplaywomen) August 1, 2024

An absolute travesty at the Olympics.

Angela Carini is forced to box against a biological male. She quits after just 45 seconds, and cries hysterically as her opponent is declared the winner.

Don’t look away. This is wokeness. pic.twitter.com/wOkVRs88t5

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) August 1, 2024

What is the controversy around Imane Khelif’s participation in women’s boxing?

Khelif is an accomplished amateur who won a silver medal at the International Boxing Association’s 2022 world championships. The same governing body disqualified her from last year’s championships shortly before her gold-medal match because of what it claimed were elevated levels of testosterone.

Khelif and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan suddenly have received massive scrutiny for their presence in Paris after years of amateur competition. Lin won IBA world championships in 2018 and 2022, but the governing body stripped her of a bronze medal last year because it claimed she failed to meet unspecified eligibility requirements in a biochemical test.

The Algerian Olympic Committee issued a statement on Wednesday condemning what it termed “lies” and “unethical targeting and maligning of our esteemed athlete, Khelif, with baseless propaganda from certain foreign media outlets.”

Criticism from Italy PM

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who was visiting Italy athletes in the Olympic Village on Thursday, voiced criticism that Carini had to box Khelif, saying she had since 2021 opposed allowing athletes with “genetically male” characteristics to compete against women.

“We have to pay attention, in an attempt to not discriminate, that we’re actually discriminating against women’s rights. In these things what counts is your dedication, your head and character, but it also counts having a parity of arms,” Meloni said.

What’s IOC’s take?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday defended their right to compete. Olympic boxing reached gender parity for the first time this year, with 124 men and 124 women competing in Paris.

“Everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules. They are women in their passports and it’s stated that this is the case, that they are female,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said.

(With inputs from Associated Press)

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 The sixth day of the Paris Olympics 2024 has been hit by a fresh controversy after Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned her bout against Imane Khelif of Algeria in just 46 seconds at the Arena Paris Nord in Paris on Thursday.  Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today