Italy's Angela Carini expresses regret over Olympic boxing match against fighter who failed gender test

Italian boxer Angela Carini spoke out Friday about her match against Algerian Imane Khelif, who is one of two people involved in a gender controversy at the Paris Olympics.

Carini abandoned her match against Khelif about 46 seconds into their matchup. Carini was punched in the face twice and was heard yelling about the fairness of the fight to her coaches. She was in tears after the match and emotional while talking to reporters about the fight.

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Algerian Imane Khelif, left, during the Women's 66kg preliminary round match against Italian Angela Carini on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at North Paris Arena on Aug. 1, 2024 in Paris. (Fabio Bozzani/Anadolu via Getty Images)

On Friday, Carini told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport that she wanted to "apologize" to Khelif.

"All this controversy makes me sad," Carini said, via BBC. "I'm sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision."

Carini was seen giving Khelif the cold shoulder after the right. She said it was one of the things she regretted about the match.

"It wasn't something I intended to do," Carini said. "Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke."

Khelif will fight in the next round on Saturday against Hungarian Luca Hamori.

Angela Carini of Team Italy looks on prior to the Women's 66kg preliminary round match against Imane Khelif of Team Algeria on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at North Paris Arena on Aug. 1, 2024 in Paris. (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

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The Algerian fighter has been under the microscope after the International Boxing Association deemed that Khelif failed gender eligibility tests, and the president of the organization claimed the boxer had "XY chromosomes."

The International Olympic Committee defended Khelif’s eligibility on Thursday as the gender controversy heated up.

"These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA," the IOC said of Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting. "Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.

Algerian Imane Khelif, left, gestures to Italian Angela Carini in the women's 66kg preliminaries round of 16 boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena on Aug. 1, 2024. (MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)

"According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA should "establish a clear procedure on gender testing.

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"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."

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