Italy's Carini apologizes to Algeria's Khelif amid Olympic gender row

Angela Carini, the Italian boxer who pulled out against boxer Imane Khelif, told Italian media on Friday that she felt sorry for her Algerian opponent.

Khelif is one of the two women boxers who are at the centre of a gender row in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The other one is Taiwan's Lin Yu-Ting.

"All the controversy made me sad and I'm sorry for my opponent too. It's nothing to do with her. She was here like me to fight," Carini told the Gazzetta dello Sport.

Carini ignored Khelif's attempt to shake her hand at the end of the one-sided bout at 66kg, but told the publication: "It wasn't on purpose, and I apologize to her and everyone.

"I was angry because my Olympics had just gone up in smoke but I've nothing against Imane Khelif. On the contrary, if I saw her again, I'd give her a hug."

Hungarian boxer Anna Luca Hamori faces Khelif on Saturday and having initially taken a conciliatory tone, she wrote in a Facebook post Friday: "In my humble opinion I don't think it's fair that this contestant can compete in the women's category."

But Tunisian coach Samir Khlifi, speaking after his boxer Khouloud Hlimi lost in a bout in Lin's class, called the IBA decision to disqualify Khelif last year "political".

"I've known that boxer for a long time," he said of the Algerian. "I knew her when she was a girl and now there is a question mark.

"The International Olympic Committee did her justice and allowed her to participate."

Lin Yu-Ting wins

Lin, one of the boxers at the centre of a gender controversy at the Olympics reached the quarterfinals Friday, as fellow fighters and public figures weighed into the furore.

Lin beat Sitora Turdibekova from Uzbekistan on a unanimous points decision in the women's 57kg class in her opening bout in Paris.

Khelif and Lin both fought at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics without controversy.

They were then disqualified from the 2023 world championships in New Delhi, run by the International Boxing Association (IBA), after failing to meet "eligibility criteria".

However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has cleared the boxers to compete in the French capital, igniting a firestorm.

The IOC stripped the IBA of responsibility for organizing the Paris Games boxing over financial, ethical and governance issues.

Lin beat Turdibekova with finesse rather than power, using her reach to score with jabs and sidestepping the Uzbek's attempts to make the fight a close-quarters brawl.

After the victory she avoided talking to the media, although her coach Tseng Tzu-chiang paused briefly.

"This is how the sport is. We respect the ruling and all the rules," he said, adding that Lin "was a little nervous in her first bout. Anyway, we just enjoyed the contest."

Hot-button issue

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said the Olympic body's eligibility criteria was based on the gender indicated on the boxers' passports, but acknowledged the issue was not "black and white".

The row has rapidly become a hot-button issue outside the ring, with politicians and celebrities weighing in.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the Khelif-Carini fight was "not on an equal footing", after the Italian fighter was left with a badly hurt nose and in tears.

US presidential candidate Donald Trump weighed in saying he would "keep men out of women's sports" and his running mate JD Vance described Thursday's bout as a "grown man pummeling a woman in a boxing match".

Harry Potter author JK Rowling said on X, formerly Twitter, that the Paris Olympics would be "forever tarnished by the brutal injustice done to Carini".

But Irish ex-world champion Amy Broadhurst, who beat Khelif in their title fight two years ago, has defended her on social media and urged people to "stop the bullying".

"Personally I don't think she (Khelif) has done anything to 'cheat'," Broadhurst wrote on X. "I think it's the way she was born and that's out of her control."

—Agence France-Presse