Everything To Know About Angela Carini and Imane Khelif's 46 Second Olympic Boxing Match

On Aug. 1, 2024, Angela Carini, representing Italy at the 2024 Summer Olympics, quit her boxing match against Algeria's Imane Khelif after just 46 seconds. Angela cited too much pain in her face after taking a few blows from Imane, whose eligibility then came into question as a woman competing in the Games, and what followed was a boxing controversy linked to the Olympics.

Celebrities took to social media to call for trans women to be removed from Olympic competitions out of unfairness in the competition to cisgender women. However, Imane was born a cisgender female. Unfortunately, she has faced similar situations before.

When Angela called for the fight to end after just 46 seconds at the Summer Olympics in Paris, she said through tears that the punches she received from Imane were the likes of which she hadn't experienced before. By default, Imane prevailed in the bout, since Angela threw in the towel early. However, immediately following Angela's description of how much the blows hurt and information that resurfaced about Imane's past from a boxing championship, the controversy began.

In 2023, Imane was disqualified from the World Boxing Championships for having what were deemed advantages over the other women. The International Boxing Association released a statement that explained Imane was among the athletes disqualified at that time, though no one was tested for testosterone.

"The athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential," the IBA statement said. "This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors."

There are reports that claim, according to Russia's Tass News Agency, that IBA President Umar Kremlev said at the time of Imane's and another boxer's disqualification that "it was proved that they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from competition."

According to the National Health Service in the U.K., this is possible because of Differences of Sexual Development conditions. The various forms involve differences in hormone levels and development. Though Imane has not publicly shared that this is the case for her and it has still not been proved that the alleged tests from the IBA confirmed XY chromosomes.

In a since-deleted Twitter post, Logan Paul tweeted that he felt it was unfair for Imane to compete in the female boxing sector in the Olympics because, according to him, she was born male. When he realized his mistake and that this information is false, he tweeted again to say, "OOPSIES!! I might be guilty of spreading misinformation along with the entirety of this app. Although she's been previously disqualified for failing a 'gender test' and has XY chromosomes, some sources say Imane Khelif was born a biological woman."