Sports

Scandal at the Olympic Games: Boxer Carini withdraws from her fight after doubting the sex of her rival

Controversy has erupted in women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics over the admissions of athletes Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting. These two boxers were excluded from the last World Championships due to their high testosterone levels, but are allowed to compete at the Paris Games.

The decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has sparked a tremendous deal of controversy. In fact, athletes such as former tennis player Martina Navratilova and swimmer Sharron Davies, together with the International Women’s Sports Consortium and other associations, wrote to IOC President Thomas Bach on Thursday to ask him not to allow Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting to compete against women at the Paris Olympics.

The letter called on the IOC to “urgently” investigate the eligibility of “two boxers” to compete in the women’s boxing events at the Games. They argue that the International Boxing Association (IBA) “had previously deemed these two boxers ineligible to compete in women’s boxing events.” “We understand that the IBA excluded the two boxers based on the results of the sex determination tests, which found that they were men, not women,” they say.

However, the IOC has allowed them to compete in Paris, and this led to Angela Carini’s withdrawal from her fight against Imane Khelif on Thursday. After receiving a strong right hook from the Algerian, the Italian retired after 46 seconds. Carini raised her hand and announced her decision to leave, thus ending her participation in the Paris Olympics. “It hurts me so much,” the transalpine exclaimed through tears, just after leaving the fight against Imane Khelif.

“I got into the ring and tried to fight. But he hit me twice in the nose, and I couldn’t breathe. It hurt a lot,” Carini said after leaving the fight. 

Algerian media say that 23-year-old boxer Imane Khelif is a cisgender woman, despite the fact that hormonal tests she has undergone reveal a high level of testosterone in her body. 

Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 women’s world championships in New Delhi after her testosterone levels were deemed too high, resulting in her failing a gender test. But the Algerian can fight at the Paris Games, as she did in Tokyo three years ago, because Olympic boxing is run by a different body than the world championships. 

The latest in sports?: Everything you need to know about world sport

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button