- Algerian boxer Imane Khelif competes in the women’s welterweight event.
- Khelif was disqualified from the World Championships due to testosterone levels
A United Nations official has weighed in on the gender row at the Olympics after Italy’s Angela Carini abandoned her bout against Algeria’s Imane Khelif after just 46 seconds.
In a significant development, Reem Alsalem, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, expressed her concern online.
In an interview with X, she wrote that Carini had “correctly followed her instincts and prioritized her physical safety, but she and other female athletes should not have been exposed to this physical and psychological violence based on their sex.”
Khelif is one of two female boxers who have been cleared to compete in women’s boxing in Paris, despite being disqualified from last year’s Women’s World Championships when further testing was carried out which officials said deemed them biologically male.
In their welterweight clash at the Arena Nord in Paris on Thursday morning, Carini took two right hands from his 25-year-old opponent, before telling his corner he wanted to stop.
Algerian Imane Khelif (left) won her women’s welterweight fight when Angela Carini (right) withdrew
Carini was hit twice in the first round before leaving the fight after 46 seconds.
The Italian boxer fell to her knees after withdrawing and was seen crying in the ring
UN official Reem Alsalem (left) took to X to criticise the decision to allow Khelif to fight.
Khelif’s participation in the event has been a source of controversy after she was disqualified from the Women’s World Boxing Championships last year.
Carini admitted before the fight that he “could only adapt to the rules of the Olympic Games”
He later said the second blow “hurt too much” and he stopped for his own safety.
Alsalem is a consultant on gender issues and refugee and migrant rights.