Paris
\nThe International Boxing Association (IBA) will award Italy\u2019s Angela Carini, who lost her welterweight round-of-16 bout against Algerian Imane Khelif at the Paris Olympics in 46 seconds on Thursday, $50,000 in prize money, it said Friday.
\nCarini pulled out in the first round after the Algerian, who is at the heart of a gender row, pummelled the Italian with a barrage of punches.
\nThe IBA, which was stripped of its international recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year, said Carini would receive $50,000, her federation a further $25,000 and her coach an additional $25,000.
\n\u201cI do not understand why they killed women\u2019s boxing,\u201d IBA President Umar Kremlev said. \u201cOnly eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety. I could not look at her tears.\u201d
\nAlgeria\u2019s Khelif, and Taiwan double world champion Lin Yu-ting, were cleared to compete in Paris despite being disqualified at the 2023 World Championships after failing IBA eligibility rules that prevent athletes with male XY chromosomes from competing in women\u2019s events.
\nThe IOC last year stripped the IBA of its status as boxing\u2019s governing body over governance issues, and took charge of the Paris 2024 boxing competition itself, but now finds itself at the centre of a row over the pair\u2019s participation.
\nWelterweight Khelif next takes on Hungary\u2019s Luca Anna Hamori.
\nIn an interview with Italian daily Gazetta dello Sport published on Friday, Carini said she did not mean to stir up such heated controversy.
\n\u201cAll this controversy certainly made me sad, and I also felt sorry for my opponent, she had nothing to do with it and like me was only here to fight\u201d, she said.
\n\u201cIt was not intentional, in fact, I apologise to her and to everyone. I was angry, because my Games had already gone up in smoke. I have nothing against Khelif and on the contrary, if I happened to meet her again I would give her a hug.\u201d
\nThe IOC said the IBA decision to disqualify the boxers last year was arbitrary and the main cause for the furore that has seen people such as British author J. K. Rowling and billionaire Elon Musk voice their opposition to them competing in the Games.
\nItalian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, who met IOC President Thomas Bach on Thursday, said the Italian athlete had faced a boxer who had physical advantages and it was not a fight between equals.
\nHowever, WBC women\u2019s world featherweight champion Skye Nicolson pointed out that Khelif and Lin had both been beaten by women several times during their careers and said they \u201cdo not deserve this mistreatment\u201d.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve actually fought and sparred both of the girls,\u201d the Australian said in an Instagram post.
\n\u201cThey have grown up as girls, as females, as women. They have competed as women the whole time. These are not naturally born men who have decided to call themselves women or identify as women to fight women in the Olympics.
\n\u201cI feel like the thing that happened with the Italian girl was a publicity stunt more than anything.\u201d
\nSome sports have limited the levels of testosterone allowed for athletes competing in women\u2019s competition, while others ban everyone who has been through male puberty.
\nDifferences of Sexual Disorder (DSD) are a group of rare conditions involving genes, hormones and reproductive organs. Some people with DSDs are raised as female but have XY sex chromosomes and blood testosterone levels in the male range.
\nThe IOC said the rules of eligibility were based on those of the Tokyo Games in 2021 and could not be changed during a competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paris The International Boxing Association (IBA) will award Italy\u2019s Angela Carini, who lost her welterweight round-of-16 bout against Algerian Imane Khelif at the Paris Olympics in 46 seconds on Thursday, $50,000 in prize money, it said Friday. Carini pulled out in the first round after the Algerian, who is at the heart of a gender […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422773,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-422759","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n