2024 Olympics, boxing: Italy's Carini retires 45 seconds into her bout with Algerian athlete

In Paris, the case of Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer with high levels of testosterone in his blood, who today met the Italian Angela Carini in the ring at the Arena Paris Nord in the welterweight category, broke out. The match, valid for the 66 kg category, lasted about 45 seconds. After an initial stoppage, the Italian retired in the first round, handing victory to the Algerian boxer, who thus advances to the quarter-finals. Immediately afterwards, the boxer from Campania knelt in the middle of the ring in despair. 'I have often fought in the national team, I train with my brother, I have always fought with men, I don't know, I felt too much pain today,' she added, 'Was I afraid of getting hurt? I've never been afraid of getting hurt, when you step out of the ring you're aware that you can go down but I couldn't bring myself to finish the fight. I felt a sharp pain in my nose'. On the affair and the outcome of the match there were comments from politicians, from the premier Giorgia Meloni visiting Casa Italia, to the vice-president of the council Matteo Salvini to the president of the Senate Ignazio La Russa.

Khelif had been excluded from the 2023 World Boxing Championships in India for testosterone levels deemed too high. Whereas she was admitted by the International Olympic Committee to the Games, which applies different, evidently more permissive standards. "I find it incomprehensible that there is no alignment in the parameters of the minimum hormone values on an international level, thus including Europeans, World Cups, and the Olympics,' stressed the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi in the French capital these days. 'In the event that represents the highest values of sport, the safety of athletes and female athletes must be guaranteed, and respect for fair competition from the competitive point of view. That of transgender athletes is an issue that must be brought back into the category of respect in all its forms, but we must distinguish the practice of sport from the agonism that must be able to allow them to compete on equal terms, in complete safety. It is quite clear that the dimension of gender identity in competition poses the problem of equal opportunities; it is no coincidence that many sports disciplines have placed constraints on transgender athletes necessary to allow them to compete under equal conditions. In this case, we are witnessing an interpretation of the concept of inclusiveness that does not take into account primary and indispensable factors'.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who visited Casa Italia today, also spoke on the matter. 'I didn't agree with the choice of 2021, I don't agree today, I thank Angela Carini for how she fought even we didn't manage to see her, we only saw small flashes...' 'She has withdrawn' journalists at Casa Italia pointed out to her. Meloni continued: 'I'm even more sorry, I was excited yesterday when she wrote 'I will fight' because in these things, dedication, head, character also counts. But then it also counts to be able to compete on equal terms. And from my point of view it was not an even contest'.

Elon Musk also makes the statement that men do not belong in women's sports. Indeed, on his X profile Musk comments with 'absolutely' on former US swimmer Riley Gaines' post stating: 'Men don't belong in women's sports #StandWithAngelaCarini'.

On Friday, 2 August, another boxer who could be challenged, Taiwanese Li-Yuting against Uzbekistan's Turdibekova, will also make her debut at featherweight. Neither Khelif in the under-66kg category nor Li-Yuting had passed the gender test at the World Boxing Championships but the IOC admitted them both, as it did at the Tokyo Games in 2021.