Italy’s Angela Carini abruptly ended her Olympic boxing match against Algeria’s Imane Khelif just 46 seconds into the bout on Thursday. Competing in the women’s 66kg category during a round-of-16 match in Paris, the fight came to a sudden halt after Khelif, who was disqualified last year after failing a gender eligibility test, landed the first significant punch.
The match had only just begun when an early pause was called to allow Carini to adjust her head guard. Shortly after the fight resumed, Khelif delivered a clean right hand. Carini quickly signaled to her team and chose not to continue, prompting the referee to end the contest.
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Following the match, Carini was seen dropping to her knees in tears. She appeared to ignore Khelif’s attempts to console her, both before and after Khelif’s victory was declared. Carini could be heard telling her coach, “It’s not right, it’s not right!” before swiftly exiting the arena.
This is the power punch to the head that finished the match. pic.twitter.com/ssJqe20dza
According to reports from The Telegraph and BBC, Carini may have suffered a broken nose, and she later told reporters that she had never been hit so hard in her career. Khelif, who is also 25, did not stop to answer questions after the match.
Khelif was previously disqualified from competing just hours before her gold-medal bout at last year’s World Championships in New Delhi for failing to meet the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) eligibility requirements.
