Italian boxer Angela Carini has revealed that she would like to apologise to opponent Imane Khelif following the controversy surrounding their boxing match.
Carini and Khelif's match yesterday (1 August) ended after just 46 seconds, with the Algerian boxer later receiving backlash online after it was revealed that she was one of two female boxers who had failed an International Boxing Association (IBA) gender eligibility test in 2023.
The Olympic Committee has since issued a statement reaffirming Khelif's eligibility to compete in the competition as she is recognised as a female athlete, adding that 'every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination'.
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"All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit," the statement read.
"As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport."
It is also understood that Khelif was assigned female at birth and has never publicly identified as as a man, transgender, or intersex.
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Following the backlash Khelif has received for her inclusion at the Paris Olympics, Carini has now issued an apology to the 25-year-old and added that she 'respects' the decision of the IOC to allow Khelif to fight.
"All this controversy makes me sad," she told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
"I'm sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision."
Discussing her decision not to shake hands with Khelif, Carini revealed that she wanted to apologise for her behaviour, saying: "It wasn't something I intended to do.
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"Actually, I want to apologise to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke."
She added that if she met Khelif again, she would 'embrace her'.
The Algerian Olympic Committee has also defended Khelif from the backlash, saying: "We strongly support our heroine and continue to defend her rights as a fair and qualified competition."
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Khelif has fought 50 times in her career as a boxer, losing on nine occasions. She previously competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she was defeated by Ireland's Kellie Harrington in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile Amy Broadhurst, who defeated Khelif back in 2022, has also come to her defence and begged for the online attacks to stop.
"Have had a lot of people texting me over Imane Khelif. Personally I don’t think she has done anything to ‘cheat’. I thinks it’s the way she was born and that’s out of her control," Broadhurst wrote on social media.
"The fact that she has been [beaten] by nine females before says it all."
Topics: Boxing, Olympics, Imane Khelif, Sport
Brenna Cooper