"Quite literally an attack on women";"Absolutely disgusting"- Fans react as Angela Carini abandons fight against Imane Khelif

Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned her match in the women's 66kg Boxing Preliminaries in the early moments of the first round at the Paris Olympics. She was facing Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who was previously disqualified from the women's boxing championship in 2023 for failing to meet the eligibility criteria at the event.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) president Umar Kremlev spoke at the time to Russia’s Tass news agency about the Algerian boxer's suspension:

“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.”

However, the International Olympic Committee cleared the Algerian boxer to compete in the women's 66 kg category at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Carini abandoned the match after the first exchange between the two boxers, which seemingly included a hit on Carini's nose. This led to Khelif being announced as the winner of the match in the women's 66kg boxing preliminary round, after less than a minute of in-ring action.

Many fans were left furious by the decision of the International Olympic Committee to allow boxers previously disqualified for failing gender tests to participate in women's events, and they took to X to express their opinion.

"Absolutely disgusting. The poor girl, training for years as a female boxer, goes to the Olympics, the pinnacle of her career, and gets put in the ring with a bloody man!" wrote a fan.

"Gutted for her. I feel so sorry for All the women training and working in the sport to have something like this happen," another fan chimed in.

"I think people underestimate just how traumatizing this will be for Angela Carini," wrote another fan.

Here are some more fan reactions:

"This is quite literally an attack on women and it's utterly barbaric to witness. There seems to be incredible amounts of hatred being directed at biological women lately and it's coming from the woke," a fan tweeted.

" Women must refuse to fight or compete against men. When they do, this madness will end," another fan chimed in.

" Awful to see. Should disqualify Imane Khelif. What a world we live in," wrote another fan.

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Angela Carini's coach speaks in the mixed zone

Angela Carini went down on her knees in the center of the boxing ring after she abandoned the match. The Italian boxer was teary-eyed as the referee announced Imane Khelif as the winner.

Her coach spoke about the match in the mixed zone:

“I don’t know if her nose is broken. I have to speak with the girl. But many people in Italy tried to call and tell her: “Don’t go please: it’s a man, it’s dangerous for you,'” he said (according to The Guardian)

Carini received huge support from the boxing community and fans from all over the world. She has yet to release a statement about her match in the Paris Olympics.