“Was She Faking”: Italy’s Angela Carini’s Questionable Past Comes to Light After Quitting Against Imane Khelif Raises Eyebrows

Forty-six seconds! That’s all it took for Italian boxer Angela Carini to call it a day at one of the year’s biggest sporting events. During the Round-of-16 Women’s 66 kg competition at the Olympics, Carini withdrew from the bout after being hit hard a couple of times by the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif. The Italian’s emotional outburst following her loss kicked off a chain reaction on social media with netizens viciously trolling Khelif claiming that the Alegerian was a biological male and that she shouldn’t have been allowed to participate in the women’s category.

Notably, Imane Khelif was barred by the IBA from the 2023 World Championships after failing a gender eligibility test and this has been used to direct vitriolic online slander at Khelif. But now it looks like a ghost from Carini’s past has come back to haunt her, adding a new narrative to the controversy surrounding her and Khelif.

A video footage from the IBA World Championship 2022 that should be concerning for the Italian is now doing the rounds on social media. Angela Carini was up against a boxer from Turkey Busenaz Sürmeneli. With about eighteen seconds left in the first round of the fight, the Carini fell onto the canvas and could be seen holding up her foot. Subsequently, she had to withdraw from the bout, citing an injury.

This resurfaced clip prompted popular boxing analyst @ShowBizzAdult to ask a burning question on X: “WHAT YOU THINK? Angela Carini (The woman who quit 46 secs in the Khelif fight) QUIT 2 years ago. Was she FAKING A FALL in the WORST acting I’ve ever seen or did she TRULY SUFFER an INJURY??? Is she a quitter or no?”

It would be very naive and immature at this stage to declare her a “quitter.” After all, the woman won silver medals at the European and World Championships in 2019, and a Gold medal at the European Youth Championship. But the footage of her quitting two years ago during a bout could raise questions about her and can lead to the gender debate slowly dying down.

It is possible that Khelif, who was born a woman, suffers from a rare genetic condition called the Swyer syndrome which may have resulted in her failing the IBA’s gender eligibility test. However, this is not confirmed and she has fought in previous international competitions as well as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as a female.

The International Olympic Commission (IOC) has extended their support to Khelif in the face of the online hate campaign, claiming that the athlete has complied with the entry regulations, and has been “competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category”. IOC President Thomas Bach defended the decision to allow Khelif and another boxer Lin-Yu-ting to compete and said the concerns over their gender identity are “totally unacceptable.”

Furthermore, the Algerian Olympic Committee also stood by the boxer and condemned the “unethical targeting and maligning” that she has been at the receiving end of. Meanwhile, Carini also came out with an apology to Khelif.

On August 2, speaking to the Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport, she said, “I’m sorry for my opponent, If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision. It wasn’t something I intended to do. Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke.”

After Carini’s decision to quit the bout against Khelif, the Algerian pugilist was subjected to online abuse, and many incorrectly referred to her as a male because of an alleged physical advantage. As for Khelif, she beat Hungarian Anna Luca Hamori in the quarterfinal bout on Saturday, assuring herself of at least a bronze medal.

Wrapped in an Alergian flag, Khelif told the reporters “I want to tell the entire world that I am a female, and I will remain a female.” His father, Amar Khelif also presented an official-looking document resembling a birth certificate. “This is our family official document. May 2, 1999. Imane Khelif, female,” he said in an interview with Reuters. “It is written here. You can read it, this document doesn’t lie.”

However, the controversy from the Cairini-Khelif bout has led to a sparring match between the IOC and the International Boxing Association (IBA).

Tale of opposing narratives!

The IOC claimed that IBA barred Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting from the 2023 world championship based on an “arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure.” As things stand, there is no clear proof that Khelif is a biological male apart from IBA’s findings which claimed that Khelif’s test results returned an XY (male) chromosomal pairing.

“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 (male) chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from competition,” the president of IBA, Umar Kremlev informed the media after their findings.

However, the IBA did not say what test the pair had been subjected to. Still, their findings are debatable. The IBA, whose president is Umar Kremlev of Russia, was stripped of its recognition as the official boxing body for the Games by the IOC for corruption and financial-related issues. Their legitimacy was dented a further blow after USA Boxing terminated its relationship with the body last year, citing the “ongoing failures of IBA leadership.”

In response to the IOC’s criticism of their findings, the IBA doubled down on its decision to bar the athletes, citing that the disqualification was based on trustworthy tests conducted by two independent laboratories.

As the gender debate rages on, judgment should be reserved until all the facts are out. While questions can be raised about Carini’s actions in light of her past, her apology should go some way in simmering down the tensions.

That being said, what do you think about this controversy? Let us know in the comment section below.