Australia’s Marissa Williamson could be Imane Khelif’s next opponent if she wins later on Thursday in Paris, after the Algerian advanced in the 66kg division after her opponent retired after 46 seconds.
Boxing at the Olympics has been marred by conflicting gender eligibility rules in Paris, with Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting allowed to compete despite being disqualified from last year’s world championships.
The pair failed unspecified gender eligibility tests and were deemed to have a competitive advantage, but the International Olympic Committee allowed them both to compete.
That decision has sparked outrage in the boxing community and came to a head on Thursday when Italian Angela Carini pulled out of her fight against Khelif after feeling the power of two of her punches.
She cried in the ring before leaving.
“He felt pain in his nose and told me: ‘I don’t want to fight anymore,'” his Italian trainer Emanuele Renzini told reporters in broken English.
“People say: ‘Don’t go, he’s dangerous, he’s a man.’ Maybe that’s why (he resigned).
“It’s not my decision. It’s a tough decision. I don’t want to be the CEO right now.”
Imane Khelif’s next opponent will be revealed later on Thursday afternoon.
Khelif won a silver medal at the 2022 IBA world championships and will face Williamson if she can 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 sudden end to the fight.
Khelif then dodged the media as she quickly left the stadium, while Carini struggled through tears to explain that it was the injury, and not a protest, that forced her to suddenly quit.
“I felt a strong pain in my nose and… I couldn’t finish the match,” he said.
‘My heart is broken 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.
‘Despite all the controversy there was, I never cared, I just kept going and just wanted to win.’
Williamson could be Khelif’s next fight if he wins his fight against Hungary’s Luca Anna Hamori in Paris.