Two punches were enough to force Italian Angela Carini to sensationally abandon her Olympic bout with Algerian Imane Khelif as a 46-second fight blew up the Paris boxing program. 

Boxing is grappling with conflicting gender eligibility rules in the humble arena north of Paris. 

Kheli and Taiwan’s Lin Yu‑ting of Taiwan were disqualified from last year’s International Boxing Association-run world championships after they failed an unspecified gender eligibility test and were deemed to have a competitive advantage. 

But the International Olympic Committee has taken over from the IBA as boxing’s sanctioning body and, under different criteria, have allowed both to compete. 

As the sport fights for its Olympic future it’s become a lightning rod for criticism, Australia boxing captain Caitlin Parker saying on Wednesday it was wrong and “dangerous” for the pair to be competing. 

That was evident on Thursday when Carini and Khelif had only a few exchanges before Carini abandoned the bout, an extremely unusual occurrence in Olympic boxing. 

Carini’s headgear became dislodged twice before she quit and then refused to shake Khelif’s hand after the decision was announced. 

She cried in the ring before leaving. 

“She felt pain in the nose and said to me, ‘I don’t want to fight more’,” her Italian coach Emanuele Renzini told reporters in broken English. 

“People say, ‘Don’t go, it’s dangerous, she’s a man’. Maybe it’s this (why she quit). 

“It’s not my decision, It’s a difficult decision. I don’t want to be the CEO at the moment.” 

Khelif won a silver medal at the International Boxing Association’s 2022 world championships and will next face Williamson, if she’s able to beat Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori in Thursday’s afternoon session. 

The 25-year-old entered the ring at the North Paris Arena to a chorus of cheers, but the crowd was confused by the bout’s sudden end. 

Khelif then dodged media as she briskly exited the arena, while Carini fought through tears to explain it was the injury, and not a protest, that forced her sudden abandonment. 

“I felt a strong pain in my nose and ... could no longer finish the match,” she said. 

“I am heartbroken because I am a fighter, my father taught me to be a warrior. 

“I felt all the controversy that there has been ... that was not something that stopped me or blocked me mentally.”Regardless of all the controversy that there was, I never cared, I went ahead and I just wanted to win.” 

Khelif, and Lin Yu‑ting, who both fought at Tokyo’s Games, have received massive scrutiny for their presence in Paris after years of amateur competition. 

Lin won IBA world championships in 2018 and 2022, but the governing body stripped her of a bronze medal last year because it claimed she failed to meet unspecified eligibility requirements in a biochemical test. 

The Algerian Olympic Committee issued a statement on Wednesday condemning what it termed “lies” and “unethical targeting and maligning of our esteemed athlete, Imane Khelif, with baseless propaganda from certain foreign media outlets.” 

Hear it as it happens with live commentary of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on GOLD SPORT & iHeartRadio, plus comprehensive coverage on Newstalk ZB. 

Follow the podcast on iHeart Radio