Angela Carini's Early Exit Stirs Debate Over Gender Rules at the Olympics

What should have been a joyous victory turned into something more. Just 46 seconds into the fight, Angela Carini decided to end the bout. The Italian fighter stated, “I felt severe pain in my nose, and like a mature boxer, I decided ‘enough,’ because I didn’t want to, I couldn’t continue the match."

Imane Khelif wins

By: Antony Vega

Published August 2, 2024

Her statement came after her bout against Imane Khelif from Algeria, who was disqualified from the 2023 world championships for failing a gender eligibility test.

Carini's decision to walk away from the bout has brought a lot of attention and backlash throughout social media. Boxing world champion Claressa Shields said, "I can understand her devastation, but it shouldn't be ruined due to a man. And I think that the Olympics definitely dropped the ball."

Ryan Garcia, who is facing a one-year suspension for testing positive for ostarine before his bout with Devin Haney, took to Instagram to speak against the Paris Olympics. He stated, "They have decided to allow men to fight women." He followed this with, "We need to boycott the Olympics."

The controversial bout has raised questions about the motives of the Olympics, who have already had to apologize for their controversial opening featuring drag queens and transgender models, which resembled the last supper.

For the past few years the conversation surrounding men in sports have been a national topic that has come with mix responses with the majority agreeing with no men in women sports.  

With this win Iman Khelif is now closer to securing a gold medal. The next match will be against Anna Luca Hamori on Saturday, August 3rd.