An Olympic boxing match has reignited battles around gender eligibility and regulatory inconsistencies in the sport.
Italy’s Angela Carini withdrew 46 seconds into her bout against Algeria’s Imane Khelif last week, saying she feared for her life after Khelif punched her in the nose.
The incident prompted speculation about Khelif’s gender and history as a competitive boxer.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended Khelif’s place at the Games, saying: “Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination.”
Khelif
Khelif, 25, began competitive boxing in 2018.
In 2021, she made it to the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Games for Algeria, before being eliminated.
The next year, she won the African and Mediterranean Championships and silver at the World Championships.
Regulatory issues
In 2023, the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is not recognised by the IOC, held the World Boxing Championships.
The IBA disqualified Khelif and another boxer, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, during the competition, for failing a gender eligibility test.
It’s since said the two “did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognised test”.
There is no indication Khelif is trans or intersex.
IBA President Umar Kremlev told Russian state media that the boxers failed the test because they had XY chromosomes, typically found in people assigned male at birth.
His allegations have not been supported by the IBA or by any official documentation. The IBA has not offered any further details of the test.
Khelif was disqualified from the IBA Championship after she beat a Russian competitor.
Ahead of the Olympics, the IOC declared Khelif and Lin eligible to compete in Paris. It said Khelif’s IBA disqualification was “sudden and arbitrary”.
The match
Last week, Khelif’s competitor – Angela Carini – chose to abandon her Olympic bout after a punch to her nose dislodged her chinstrap and left her bleeding.
The Italian boxer later said she had “never felt a punch like this” and stopped the fight “for [her] health”.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the match-up “was not an even contest.”
The Algerian Olympic Committee defended Khelif, saying she’d been the subject of “unethical targeting and maligning… with baseless propaganda from certain foreign media outlets.”
The apology
Speaking to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, Carini said she was “sorry” for her opponent, and the speculation surrounding the withdrawal.
“If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”
The 25-year-old said she regretted not shaking hands with Khelif after the match.
“I want to apologise to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke,” she said.
Khelif’s response
In a video statement on Monday, Khelif called for an end to the online abuse and misinformation around her gender.
She said competing in the Olympics was a childhood dream. The boxer urged viewers to “refrain from bullying all athletes because it has effects, massive effects. It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, minds and spirits. It can divide people.”
Khelif will face Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng in the women’s 66kg Olympic semi-final on Wednesday morning (AEST).
