Angela Carini Issues Public Apology to Imane Khelif Amid Gender Controversy

Getty Algeria's Imane Khelif (in red) gestures to Italy's Angela Carini in the women's 66kg preliminaries round of 16 boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Italian boxer Angela Carini admitted the heat of the moment got the best of her following her Olympic boxing loss to Algeria’s Imane Khelif, who is at the center of a gender controversy.

She said she regretted not shaking the hand of a victorious Khelif following her withdrawal after 46 seconds from their preliminary bout in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“It wasn’t something I intended to do,” Carini told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport. “Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke. I don’t have anything against Khelif. Actually, if I were to meet her again I would embrace her.”

Khelif’s victory was tainted with controversy following her disqualification from the 2023 Boxing World Championships, governed by the International Boxing Association (IBA), for failing a gender eligibility test in which details were not disclosed.

Angela Carini Respects IOC’s Decision

The International Olympic Committee’s decision to allow Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan to compete in Paris after their disqualification from the 2023 Boxing World Championships was met with backlash.

The IBA is no longer recognized by the IOC because of governance and financial issues.

IBA President Umar Kremlev claimed Khelif and another female boxer, Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan, have XY chromosomes, which are typically found in males, after two separate laboratory tests, which the process and details were deemed confidential.

“Based on DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to trick their colleagues into posing as women. According to the results of the tests, it was proved that they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from competition,” Kremlev said, per the Russian news agency, TASS, in 2023.

Despite losing to Khelif, Carini said she felt sorry for her.

“All this controversy makes me sad,” Carini said after her Olympics hopes flamed out. “I’m sorry for my opponent, too. … If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”

IOC Defends Imane Khelif: ‘She Was Born Female’

The IOC defended Khelif, maintaining that she met the eligibility requirement to compete. Khelif finished fifth in the Tokyo Olympics.

“The Algerian boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said on Friday, August 2.

The IOC also released a statement denouncing “abuse” and “aggression” aimed at Khelif.

“The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure, especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years,” the statement read, via The Independent.

“The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving,” it added. “Every person has the right to practice sport without discrimination.”

The IOC also decried the IBA’s hasty decision to disqualify both boxers in the middle of the world championship last year.

“Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process,” the IOC statement read. “According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO.”