Current:Home > ScamsOlympic boxer at center of gender eligibility controversy wins bizarre first bout-InfoLens
Olympic boxer at center of gender eligibility controversy wins bizarre first bout
View Date:2025-01-12 15:24:47
PARIS – Algeria's Imane Khelif, one of two female Olympic boxers disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing gender eligibility tests, entered the ring Thursday at the Paris Games.
Her bout ended in abrupt and bizarre fashion.
Khelif prevailed when Italy’s Angela Carini stopped fighting after 46 seconds.
Carini was punched in the nose and shortly afterward said she didn't want to fight anymore, according to Italian coach Emanuele Renzini
"After one punch she feel big pain,'' Renzini told reporters,.
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
Carini wept when speaking with reporters after the fight and spoke only in Italian. Translation of her comments was not immediately available.
But Renzini said Carini had been told not to take the fight and it had been weighing on her as the bout approached.
During the first round, Carini consulted with her coach twice before the fight was halted. Officially, Khelif won by ABD (abandoned).
Opinion:Olympic female boxers are being attacked. Let's just slow down and look at the facts
The crowd at North Paris Arena greeted Khelif with cheers before the abbreviated fight at the Summer Olympics and several Algeria flags were seen among the crowd. The fight in the welterweight division at 66 kg (146 pounds) was scheduled for three three-minute rounds.
The issue of gender eligibility criteria surfaced at the 2023 world championships when Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan both won medals in the women’s competition before tournament officials announced the boxers had failed gender eligibility tests. They were stripped of their medals.
This week the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said the two boxers met criteria to compete in Paris, sparking discussion about gender eligibility tests.
Get Olympics updates in your texts! Join USA TODAY Sports' WhatsApp Channel
The world championships are overseen by the International Boxing Association (IBA), long plagued with scandal and controversy.
Last year the IOC banished the IBA and developed an ad-hoc unit that ran the Olympic boxing tournament at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and is doing the same here.
The IOC did not detail the criteria met by Khelif and Yu-Ting to compete here and in Tokyo, but did say the boxers’ passports state they are women.
Yu-Ting, 28, is scheduled to begin competition Friday against Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan in the featherweight division at 57 kg (126 pounds).
Are you as obsessed with following Team USA as we are? Thought so. Subscribe to our Olympics newsletter Chasing Gold here.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Whoopi Goldberg Shares Very Relatable Reason She's Remained on The View
- Taylor Swift name-drops Patti Smith and Dylan Thomas on new song. Here’s why
- Five young men shot at gathering in Maryland park
- Hilarie Burton Morgan champions forgotten cases in second season of True Crime Story: It Couldn't Happen Here
- Voters in Oakland oust Mayor Sheng Thao just 2 years into her term
- Model Iskra Lawrence Is Pregnant, Expecting Baby No. 2 With Boyfriend Philip Payne
- New California law would require folic acid to be added to corn flour products. Here's why.
- Detroit Lions unveil new uniforms: Honolulu Blue and silver, white, and black alternates
- Stressing over Election Day? Try these apps and tools to calm your nerves
- Taylor Swift Shades Kim Kardashian on The Tortured Poets Department’s “thanK you aIMee”
Ranking
- Digital Finance Research Institute Introduce
- Utah and Florida clinch final two spots at NCAA championship, denying Oklahoma’s bid for three-peat
- Worker electrocuted while doing maintenance on utility pole in upstate New York
- Dubai airport operations ramp back up as flooding from UAE's heaviest rains ever recorded lingers on roads
- Kid Rock tells fellow Trump supporters 'most of our left-leaning friends are good people'
- Should you be following those #CleanTok trends? A professional house cleaner weighs in
- Coco Gauff vs Caitlin Clark? Tennis star says she would love to go head-to-head vs. Clark
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, No Resolution
Recommendation
-
What are the best financial advising companies? Help USA TODAY rank the top U.S. firms
-
'The Black Dog' in Taylor Swift song is a real bar in London
-
'I tried telling them to stop': Video shows people yank bear cubs from tree for selfie
-
Taylor Swift breaks our hearts again with Track 5 ‘So Long, London'
-
West Virginia expands education savings account program for military families
-
NHL Stanley Cup playoffs schedule 2024: Dates, times, TV for first round of bracket
-
Final alternate jurors chosen in Trump trial as opening statements near
-
Orlando Bloom Shares How Katy Perry Supports His Wildest Dreams