IBA awarding Angela Carini with champion prize money after loss vs. Imane Khelif

On Aug. 1, Italian boxer Angela Carini withdrew from a bout against Algeria’s Imane Khelif in the 2024 Paris Olympics only 46 seconds into the match. Despite the loss, the International Boxing Association (IBA) will financially reward Carinia as if she won the Olympic event.

“I couldn’t look at her tears,” IBA president Umar Kremlev said. “I am not indifferent to such situations, and I can assure that we will protect each boxer. I do not understand why they kill women’s boxing. Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety.”

After the bout, Carini called the bout “unfair.” Since then, Carini has apologized. However, her initial comments sparked an outcry, claiming Khelif should not be allowed to compete against other women at the Olympics.

In 2023, Khelif reached the final of the 2023 world championships before being abruptly disqualified by the IBA (International Boxing Association). The IBA claimed Khelif had high levels of testosterone in her system. Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Tang was also disqualified.

On Thursday, the Paris Olympics Boxing Unit and the International Olympic Committee released a statement regarding the two athletes’ previous disqualification.

“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.

Kremlev also said that IBA will support Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan. Today Turdibekova unanimously lost to Lin Yu-ting from Chinese Taipei, who was also deemed ineligible by the IBA back in 2023.

This story will be updated.

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