August 3, 2024, 6:31 AM
August 3, 2024, 6:31 AM
The International Boxing Federation (IBA) announced that will reward financially “like an Olympic champion” in Italian style Angela Carini, who retired before the aAlgerian Imane Khelif, one of the two boxers who are the protagonists of a gender controversy in the Games.
The controversy erupted on Thursday after Khelif’s first rival, Carini, retired in tears after only 46 seconds of combat, in which he received several strong blows to the face.
The Algerian then approached to shake her hand but Carini, hurt, avoided the greeting.
“I couldn’t go on. My nose hurt so much that I said, ‘Stop.'” “It was better not to continue,” said the Italian. “I have always fought against men, I train with my brother, but today I felt too much pain,” she explained.
Images of the fight quickly spread across social media with sports figures, such as Martina Navratilova, and politicians, from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, to former US President Donald Trump, criticizing the authorization of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to Khelif’s participation.
The Algerian and another boxer, Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting (-57 kg), were admitted to the Games by the IOC even though they had been excluded by the IBA from the 2022 and 2023 World Cups for failing a gender test.
In a statement released on Friday, the President of the IBARussian Umar Kremlev, lent his support to Carini.
“Only eligible athletes should participate for safety reasons. “I don’t understand why women’s boxing is being killed,” Kremlev said, referring to the IOC, with which the IBA is involved in conflicts over several issues.
The IBA decided to attribute all of its gold medals $100,000 (about 92,000 euros), of which 25,000 are for the national federation and 25,000 for the coaches. He has agreed to pay Carini “as if she were an Olympic champion.”
Imane Khelif will face this Saturday in quarter finals to the Hungarian Anna Luca Hamori.
The Hungarian Olympic Committee asked the IOC “clarify” the conditions of participation of the 25-year-old Algerian, who already participated in the Tokyo Games three years ago.
