Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is through to the quarter-finals of the women’s 66kg at the Olympics after her opponent, Italy’s Angela Carini, abandoned their bout inside 46 seconds.
Khelif is one of two athletes who have been cleared to compete in the women’s boxing in Paris, having been disqualified from last year’s Women’s World Championships for failing to meet eligibility criteria.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) – which did not organise the World Championships but is running the boxing at Paris 2024 – said welterweight Khelif was disqualified in India because of elevated levels of testosterone.
Having received a bye in the first round, the 25-year-old – who also competed at the Tokyo Olympics – entered Arena Paris Nord on Thursday to much applause from the many Algerians in the crowd.
After taking a punch to the face inside 30 seconds, Carini went to the corner for her coach to fix her headgear but after briefly resuming, returned to her corner once more and stopped the fight.
She was in tears as she faced the media after the bout.
It comes a day after Algeria’s Olympic Committee condemned “baseless” attacks on Khelif.
Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who was stripped of a bronze medal at last year’s World Championships after failing a gender eligibility test, fights in Paris on Friday.
The IOC said all boxers in Paris “comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations”.
On Tuesday, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said: “These athletes have competed many times before for many years, they haven’t just suddenly arrived – they competed in Tokyo.”
The 2023 World Championships, at which Khelif and Lin were disqualified, were organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA).
But last June, the Russia-led body was stripped of its status as the sport‘s world governing body by the IOC, which organised the boxing competitions at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and is doing so again for Paris 2024.
On Wednesday, the IBA said the pair were disqualified at the World Championships “to uphold the level of fairness and utmost integrity of the competition”.
It said they “did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognised test, whereby the specifics remain confidential”.
“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,” the body added.
The pair had tests at the World Championships in Istanbul 2022 and then again in 2023.
The IBA said while Lin did not appeal against the disqualification decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Khelif did appeal but later withdrew it.
BBC Sport has contacted the Italian Olympic Committee and the IOC Paris 2024 Boxing Unit for comment.
