The International Boxing Association claims it will award Angela Carini the prize money she would have won had she become Olympic champion.
Italian Carini abandoned her fight with Algeria’s Imane Khelif, the athlete at the centre of a gender eligibility storm at Paris 2024, after just 46 seconds.
Carini, who was in floods of tears afterwards, said she was unable to continue for fears of her safety.
IBA will award Angela Carini, who abandoned the fight against Algeria’s Imane Khelif at Paris 2024 Games after 46 seconds of the first round, the IBA prize money as if she were an Olympic champion, President Umar Kremlev claimed. https://t.co/4mtBGpZk92
— IBA (@IBA_Boxing) August 2, 2024
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She said: “It hurt so much. I am heartbroken. I went to the ring to honour my father.
“I was told a lot of times that I was a warrior, but I preferred to stop for my health. I have never felt a punch like this.”
The IBA recently announced plans to award any boxers who win a gold medal at the Games $50,000 (€45,000).
Now its president, Umar Kremlev, has waded into the row.
“I couldn’t look at her tears,” Kremlev said in a statement. “I am not indifferent to such situations and I can assure that we will protect each boxer.
“I do not understand why they kill women’s boxing. Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety.”
Khelif is one of two fighters, along with Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei, who were disqualified from last year’s World Championships for failing to meet gender eligibility criteria.
However, the IBA, which carried out the tests in 2023, was stripped as the global governing body for boxing in June last year by the International Olympic Committee, which is administering the sport in Paris and has defended the rights of the pair to compete.
In an interview with Italian daily Gazetta dello Sport published on Friday, Carini said she did not mean to stir up such heated controversy.
“All this controversy certainly made me sad, and I also felt sorry for my opponent, she had nothing to do with it and like me was only here to fight,” she said.
“It was not intentional, in fact I apologise to her and to everyone. I was angry, because my Games had already gone up in smoke. I have nothing against Khelif and on the contrary if I happened to meet her again I would give her a hug.”
The IOC said the IBA decision to disqualify the boxers last year was arbitrary and the main cause for the furore that has seen people such as British author J. K. Rowling and billionaire Elon Musk voice their opposition to them competing in the Games.
Italian prime minister Georgia Meloni, who met IOC president Thomas Bach on Thursday, said the Italian athlete had faced a boxer who had physical advantages and it was not a fight between equals.
However, WBC women's world featherweight champion Skye Nicolson pointed out that Khelif and Lin had both been beaten by women several times during their careers and said they "do not deserve this mistreatment".
"I've actually fought and sparred both of the girls," the Australian said in an Instagram post.
"They have grown up as girls, as females, as women. They have competed as women the whole time. These are not naturally born men who have decided to call themselves women or identify as women to fight women in the Olympics.
"I feel like the thing that happened with the Italian girl was a publicity stunt more than anything."
