‘I Would Embrace Her’: Women’s Olympic Boxer Apologizes For Snubbing Opponent Amid Disproven Speculation She’s Transgender

Ahmad Austin Jr.Aug 2nd, 2024, 3:58 pm
 
Italy's Angela Carini and Algeria's Imane Khelif at the Paris Olympics

John Locher/AP

Italian Olympic boxer Angela Carini issued an apology to her most recent opponent amid speculation that she’s a transgender woman.

Carini lost to Algeria’s Imane Khelif on Thursday. Less than a minute into the three-round bout, Carini forfeited after taking a punch to the face from Khelif. She later told the media she had never been punched that hard before, leading some online to theorize that Khelif was born a man but now identifies as a woman. Fueling that speculation even further is the fact that she failed an eligibility test in 2023 at a tournament sanctioned by the International Boxing Association.

In reality, however, Khelif was assigned female at birth and has identified as a woman her entire life. She is believed to have a condition known as differences of sex development (DSD), which would explain why she may have XY chromosomes and higher levels of testosterone. When she was born, she was observed to have female external genitalia.

The International Olympic Committee published a statement Thursday condemning the “misleading” information about Khelif and reaffirming its decision to rule her eligible for the Olympics. “We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments,” read the IOC statement.

A day after the media frenzy that resulted from the match, Carini apologized for initially refusing to shake Khelif’s hand.

“It wasn’t something I intended to do,” Carini told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport. “Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke.”

Carini said she would “embrace her” if the two were face-to-face again, and admitted she was saddened by the negative attention Khelif has received.

“All this controversy makes me sad,” Carini said.

“I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”

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