Angela Carini, the Italian boxer who walked out of her 2024 Paris Olympic fight against Team Algeria’s Imane Khelif after just 46 seconds, said that she wanted to apologize.
Angela went from refusing to shake Imane’s hand in the ring to stating how “sad” she felt over the intrusive gender misinformation surrounding her opponent.
“All this controversy makes me sad,” the 25-year-old athlete told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, as per the BBC on Friday (August 2).
Angela continued: “I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”
The IOC is the International Olympic Committee.
Angela Carini is an Italian boxer who walked out of her 2024 Paris Olympic fight against Team Algeria’s Imane Khelif
Image credits: angela.carini_tiger
The Italian boxer further said that abandoning the fight had been a mature step to take, but she expressed regret at not shaking hands with Imane afterward.
“It wasn’t something I intended to do,” Angela said. “Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke.”
The athlete reportedly added that if she met Imane again, she would “embrace her.”
Imane complies with entry regulations set by various ruling entities, the Olympic committee clarified on Thursday (August 1).
Image credits: Eurosport
The new elucidation follows the dangerous misinformation that has been circulating about the athlete amid Angela Carini abandoning facing Imane just 46 seconds into their fight.
“Every person has the right to practice sport without discrimination,” the Olympic committee asserted in an official statement released on Thursday (August 1).
Misinformation about Imane’s gender identity quickly spread and was consequently used on social media by notable transphobic figures, like J.K. Rowling, following the fight that took place on Thursday.
Attention was particularly given to the International Boxing Association (IBA)’s previous disqualification of Imane due to “elevated testosterone.”
Angela walked out of her fight after just 46 seconds
Image credits: Eurosport
Nevertheless, the IOC clarified that the IBA’s decision was sudden and lacked proper procedure. Moreover, the IOC suspended the IBA in 2019 due to concerns about governance, corruption, and financial mismanagement.
Controversy erupted on Thursday after Italy’s Angela Carini quit just 46 seconds into her round-of-16 bout with Imane after the Algerian landed the first clean punch of the fight.
Angela immediately turned to her team and opted against continuing, and the Italian soon collapsed to her knees in tears.
Angela could reportedly be heard telling her coach, “It’s not right, it’s not right,” and she later told reporters that she had never been hit so hard in her career.
Image credits: Eurosport
Angela subsequently refused to shake Imane’s hand after she was announced as the winner in Paris.
In the wake of the fight quickly turning viral on social media, with notable transphobic figures also commenting on the situation, the IOC also defended Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting.
Imane and Lin were both cleared to compete in women’s boxing at the Paris Olympics but faced bigoted backlash after being stripped of titles and disqualified from the IBA.
The IBA stripped Lin of her World Championships bronze medal in the March 2023 event after failing a gender eligibility test, and it also disqualified Imane in New Delhi for failing a testosterone level test.
At the time of forfeiting the fight, Angela claimed unfairness. She has now said she wants to apologize to Imane
Image credits: DD_Geopolitics
No further details were given on why the boxers were disqualified from last year’s World Championships.
Both athletes competed at the delayed Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, and Lin is a two-time winner at the Asian Women’s Amateur Boxing Championships.
“The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years,” the IOC said in their statement.
The IOC further stated it was “saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving.”
Imane was born a biological female and has never identified as anything other than a cisgender woman.
Image credits: Eurosport
She grew up in a rural village in Tiaret in western Algeria, where she was introduced to boxing after being forced to defend herself against boys picking fights with her, UNICEF reported in March 2024.
The athlete struggled financially, and training for boxing came as a challenge, as she was unable to ask her father, who, besides being away working in the Sahara desert as a welder, did not approve of boxing for girls, UNICEF wrote.
Upon being honored as a UNICEF national ambassador, Imane stated: “I am deeply honored to be an ambassador for UNICEF.
“My message to young people is to follow your dreams.
“Don’t let obstacles come in your way, resist any obstacles and overcome them.”
News
Watch heartbreaking new video of Liam Payne being taught Spanish by fans outside hotel hours before tragic balcony fall
LIAM Payne was taught Spanish phrases by fans outside his hotel just hours before he fell to his d3ath. The 31-year-old had a big smile on his face as he interacted with supporters in Buenos Aires prior to the tragedy. Liam…
Sh0cking truth: Liam Payne asked an Argentinian friend to help him return to his hotel room in Buenos Aires. The friend noticed Payne’s unusual behavior but still deliberately…
Liam Payne had turned to a South American friend to give him professional advice over the final six months of his life. Multiple sources confirm that Payne, who was tragically found dead in Buenos Aires on Wednesday last week after falling…
Channing Tatum and Zoe Kravitz SPLIT after 3 years as they call off engagement…See more
Channing Tatum and Zoë Kravitz are ending their engagement just a year after they made plans to tie the knot. The 44-year-old Magic Mike star and the 35-year-old Batman actress split recently, sources told People on Tuesday. The couple had begun dating after…
Nicki Minaj Backs Cardi B and Blasts Ice Spice | They Have Come Together to RUIN Her Career
Ice Spice Drama: Rap Icons Nicki Minaj and Cardi B Reportedly Unite Against Rising Star. The rap world is buzzing with the latest drama involving Ice Spice, one of the genre’s fastest-rising stars, and the legendary duo of Nicki Minaj…
BREAKING NEWS: Diddy’s disgusting list of requirements for women who attended his freak-0ffs
Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs had a disgusting list of requirements about the weight and appearance of women who attended his freak-off sessions, a source claimed. The disgraced music mogul is said to have enforced a strict 140lb weight limit on guests…
New details suggest hotel staff in Argentina “collaborated with a ring” to “set up” the late Liam Payne by “delaying emergency response” in his final moments…See more
LIAM Payne “could have been saved” before he fell to his death if an ambulance had been called, a source has claimed. The former One Direction star died after falling 45ft from his hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires at 5.04pm on…
End of content
No more pages to load