Gender row explodes at Paris Olympics after boxer’s quickfire win

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s 46-second victory at the Paris Olympics on Thursday sparked a furious row over gender eligibility rules, with Harry Potter author JK Rowling saying the Games were “forever tarnished”.

Distraught Italian boxer Angela Carini, showing signs of physical pain, shrugged off attempts by Khelif to shake her hand afterwards, collapsing to her knees and sobbing uncontrollably in the middle of the ring.

Khelif advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s 66kg category after unloading two strong punches on Carini, who had blood on her shorts and was unable to carry on because of a badly hurt nose.

“I have a big pain in my nose and I said, ‘stop’. It’s better to avoid keeping going. My nose started dripping (with blood) from the first hit,” said the distressed Carini, who also broke down in tears when talking to reporters.

The 25-year-old sobbed: “I fought very often in the national team. I train with my brother. I’ve always fought against men, but I felt too much pain today.”

Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who fights on Friday at 57kg, were disqualified from the 2023 world championships in New Delhi run by the International Boxing Association (IBA) but deemed eligible to box in the women’s competition in Paris.

Both boxers also competed at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.

The IBA, in a statement on Wednesday, said Lin and Khelif were disqualified from the world championships as “a result of their failure to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition”.

“The athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognised test, whereby the specifics remain confidential,” it added.

The International Olympic Committee is running the boxing in the