The long-awaited match between Imane Khelif and Angela Carini in the round of 16 of the women’s boxing tournament, 66 kg category, lasted just 46 seconds. After receiving a couple of blows, the Italian decided to retreat. After the referee proclaimed the Algerian as the winner, Carini knelt in the center of the ring in tears. Khelif’s presence in Paris has been the subject of debate in recent hours given that in March last year she was disqualified on the eve of the title final due to high testosterone levels. “I am no one to judge or make a decision, if this girl is here there must be a reason – the Italian commented – I fought and got into the ring despite the thousand controversies that there have been, I am no one to judge. I heard some very strong blows, I took blows, I am a fighter and my national team knows it, I am someone who never stops even in the face of pain. If I stopped I did it only for my family. Was it an irregular meeting? I am no one to judge.” Angela explains that she “didn’t feel like fighting anymore after the first minute. I started to feel a strong pain in my nose, it’s not like me to give up, it’s precisely because I couldn’t, I said enough and put an end to the match. I got into the ring for my father, last Olympics my father was dying, this was my Olympics and I wanted to walk the last kilometre. What if I was afraid of hurting myself? I have never been afraid of getting hurt, when you step over the ring you are aware that you can go down but I couldn’t bring myself to finish the match. I felt a sharp pain in my nose. Why did I kneel down? I did it for my father.” “The will of the athlete is king, it must always be respected – the president of Federboxe, Flavio D’Ambrosi, commented to the Italpress agency – Even in this case the athlete chose freely and his will must be respected. More generally, I would like to highlight that in the future, i.e. in the next Olympic Games, it will be necessary for the international boxing movement to find a Federation, recognized by the IOC, which is responsible for implementing and enforcing the technical rules of competitive boxing competition. In this way, we will find the right separation of competences between the IOC, responsible for the development, coordination and supervision of the Olympic movement and its values, and the International Federation involved in the direct logistical organization of the competitions and in the implementation of the technical rules. For this reason I hope that in the coming months boxing will find its international point of reference again and at Los Angeles 2028 there will once again be a Federation that manages the Olympic competition”. “No political pressure – adds the technical director Emanuele Renzini on Angela Carini’s withdrawal in the match against the Algerian Imane Khelif – She tried for ten more seconds, then she said enough, she turned towards me, she wanted to stop. Maybe he took a punch, when you feel a different impact than usual, self-defense mechanisms are triggered. I think it’s an impulse decision made on the spot. Hundreds of messages arrived inviting her not to go up, it would have been easier to say “no, I’m not going up” but instead she wanted to fight.” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also spoke about the Khelif case from Casa Italia in Paris. “I don’t agree with the IOC’s choice, but for years. When the IOC changed the regulations in 2021 we presented a motion to present the consequences it could have. I thank Angela Carini for how she fought even though we weren’t able to see her except for small flashes. Did she retire? I’m even more sorry, I was excited yesterday when he wrote “I will fight” because in these things dedication, head and character certainly also count. But then being able to compete on equal terms also counts and this, from my point of view, was not an equal race.”
