If they handed out Olympic medals based on common sense, Angela Carini of Italy would have won gold in the boxing ring in Paris yesterday.
The 25-year-old welterweight’s opponent was Algerian Iman Khalif, who was disqualified at the New Delhi World Championships last year. Championships Due to failure to fulfil the required gender eligibility criteria.
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In other words, Khalif had failed the gender test – and that meant her punches were more male-like than female, making her extremely dangerous to female boxers.
So it would have come as no surprise to amateur or professional boxers when the Naples boxer was knocked out of the contest after just 46 seconds after she was hit hard in the face for the first time.
Carini said: “I didn’t want to fight anymore, it was hurting too much.”
His coach said: “He felt pain in his nose.”
I’m sure top fighters like Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will applaud Carini for winning like this.
He proved the IOC to be politically stupid.
After winning the competition Khalifa said, “This was the first victory, by God’s will.”
“God wants me to win the gold.” Khalif said later: “It’s tough for a first fight.
Olympic gender controversy
My dad went viral for usurping my biggest boxing win… but he’s the reason I’m a champion, says Jack ChellyThe International Olympic Committee (IOC) has sparked a major controversy by allowing two women to participate in boxing who had earlier failed gender tests.
Iman Khalif of Algeria and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan have been disqualified from the Women’s World Championships to be held in New Delhi, India in March 2023.
Lin Yu-ting was stripped of the bronze medal for failing the gender eligibility test.
Khalif was disqualified after failing a testosterone level test in New Delhi.
Officials found that tests showed he had ‘XY chromosomes’ – indicating the person is biologically male.
Rare ‘intersex’ medical conditions, known medically as differences in sex development (DSDs), can also mean that outwardly female individuals can have ‘male’ chromosomes, or vice versa.
The Russia-led International Boxing Association organised that tournament but is no longer recognised by the IOC.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said: “These athletes have competed many times before over many years, they didn’t suddenly turn up – they competed in Tokyo.
“The federation needs to create rules to make sure there is fairness, but at the same time it needs to allow everyone who wants to take part to participate. It’s a difficult balance.”
“At the end of the day the experts in each sport are the people who work in it. If there is a huge advantage then it is clearly not acceptable, but that decision has to be taken at that level.”
Both Khalifa and Lin competed at the delayed Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. Lin is a two-time winner at the Asian Women’s Amateur Boxing Championships.
The IOC said all boxers in Paris “will comply with the eligibility and entry rules of the competition”.
This controversy arose following the famous case of Caster Semenya.
Semenya, a South African middle-distance runner, has a condition that causes her body to produce higher levels of testosterone than women naturally do.
She won gold in the 800m at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics, but was unable to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics because World Athletics had then introduced new rules independently of the IOC.
“Inshallah (if Allah wishes) for the second fight. I am fully prepared because it has taken eight years to prepare for this.”
“This is my second Olympic Games after finishing fifth in Tokyo. I want an Olympic medal here in Paris.”
“We’ll see who wins the second match to find out who the opponent will be.”
“We will be ready and do everything possible to bring a medal to Algeria. One, two, three, long live Algeria.”
When is Iman Khalifa’s next fight at the Olympics? Opponent and start time
