Olympics Gender Twist: Beaten, Crying Italian Boxer Angela Carini to Receive ‘Gold-Medal Style’ Cash Bonus

The International Boxing Association, which is not officially running the Olympic boxing matches in Paris, announced it would award Italy’s Angela Carini a ‘gold-medal style’ bonus.

Carini opted out of her round of 16 match against Algeria’s Imane Khelif on Thursday, August 1, in just 46 seconds after walking to her corner following a punch on the Olympic ring.

Khelif is one of two fighters at the center of the gender questions that have led to an outcry of controversy throughout the boxing competition in Paris.

Following the loss, Carini was left in tears and claimed afterward that she’d “never been hit so hard”.

On Friday, the Italian boxer backtracked her original statement and offered up an apology to Khelif.

The IBA is still set to award Carini with a nearly $49,000 bonus, which has only added fuel to the fire surrounding the battle between the boxing governing body and the International Olympic Committee. Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova, who lost to Lin, is also set to receive a financial sum from the organization.

The feud between the two sports bodies began in 2019 when the IOC withdrew its recognition of the IBA, and then in 2023, the IOC voted to expel the amateur boxing organizers from the Olympic movement.

It was the first time in their 129-year history that the IOC kicked out a governing body.

Khelif and Taiwanese fighter Lin Yu-ting were disqualified from last year’s world championships by the IBA. The organization’s president, Umar Kremlev, claimed DNA tests had “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded”.

The organization failed to go into detail about the test results and the sudden disqualifications as they cited privacy reasons.

When it came to the Olympics, the IOC approved both fighters to compete in Paris.

“I couldn’t look at her tears,” Kremlev said. “I am not indifferent to such situations, and I can assure that we will protect each boxer.”

“I do not understand why (the IOC) they kill women’s boxing,” he continued. “Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety.”

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The IBA’s decision comes after the IOC criticized the organization on Friday in a strongly worded statement condemning the abuse and backlash Khelif had faced after the match.

“Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process,” the IOC statement read.

“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,” it continued. “Such an approach is contrary to good governance.”

High-profile voices, such as children's book author J.K. Rowling and billionaire Elon Musk, have also criticized the decision to allow Khelif to compete.