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One day after sparking a massive conspiracy theory by quitting her Olympic boxing match against Algeria’s Imane Khelif, Italy’s Angela Carini has offered an apology.
Carini stopped the fight after one punch, claiming to have broken her nose. She then cried and complained, pointing to the fact that the IBA disqualified Khelif at the 2023 World Championships due to questions regarding her gender.
But the IOC has since clarified that Khelif (who is a cis woman) meets all standards to compete in the women’s event, and now Carini is quickly backtracking.
Angela Carini Backtracks Before Apologizing To Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif
“All this controversy makes me sad,” Carini told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport. “”I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”
Carini also refused to shake Khelif’s hand after the fight, something that she now says that she regrets.
“It wasn’t something I intended to do,” Carini said. “Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke.”
Even Italian poltician Alessandra Mussolini defended Khelif.
“The woman does not cry and retreat, but fights and wins. Do you know how many women in many dangerous circumstances would like to be like the Algerian athlete, myself included,” she tweeted,
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams made the committee’s stance Khelif clear in a statement on Friday.
“The Algerian boxer was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport,” Adams said.
Meanwhile, Khelif’s next opponent Hungarian boxer Anna Luca Hamori isn’t overly concerned with all the commotion.
“I’m not scared, “I don’t care about the press story and social media. If she or he is a man, it will be a bigger victory for me if I win,” she said of the fight.
“I’m trying to not use my phone before the fight,” Hamori continued. “I don’t want to care about the comments or the story or the news. I just want to stay focused on myself. I did it before my last two fights, so I think this is the key, and we will see.”