Imane Khelif’s next opponent at the Olympics has been confirmed: the Algerian boxer will face Hungarian rival Anna Luca Hamori after her Italian opponent withdrew in just 46 seconds
Imane Khelif’s next opponent has been announced: Anna Luca Hamori from Hungary will face the Algerian at the Olympic Games.
Boxing at this year’s Paris Games has been plagued by conflicting rules over gender barriers. Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting were allowed to compete despite being disqualified from last year’s world championships.
The duo failed an unspecified gender test and were deemed to have a competitive advantage, but the International Olympic Committee allowed both athletes to compete anyway.
The decision sparked outrage in the boxing community and reached a peak on Thursday when Italy’s Angela Carini pulled out of her fight against Khelif after just 46 seconds, after feeling the force of two of her punches.
She cried in the ring before she left.
“She felt pain in her nose and said to me, ‘I don’t want to fight anymore,'” her Italian coach Emanuele Renzini told reporters in broken English.
“People say, ‘Don’t go, it’s dangerous, she’s a man.’ Maybe that’s why (she stopped).
“It’s not my decision, it’s a tough decision. I don’t want to be CEO right now.”
Imane Khelif will fight Hungarian Anna Luca Hamori in the next round of the Olympic Games
The Algerian is at the centre of a storm surrounding her participation after she failed a gender eligibility test for last year’s world championships.
Khelif won a silver medal at the 2022 International Boxing Association world championships and will now face Williamson if she manages to defeat Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori on Thursday afternoon.
The 25-year-old entered the ring at the North Paris Arena to loud cheers, but the crowd was left confused by the sudden end to the match.
Khelif then quickly left the arena without the media watching her, while Carini had to hold back tears to explain that it was the injury, and not a protest, that had forced her to leave suddenly.
“I felt a severe pain in my nose and … couldn’t finish the match,” she said.
‘I’m sad because I’m a fighter. My father taught me to be a warrior.
‘I felt all the controversy that was there… that wasn’t something that held me back or mentally blocked me. ‘Regardless of all the controversy that was there, I didn’t care, I went for it and I just wanted to win.’
Australian star Williamson could have been the next to face Khelif, but she lost her fight to Hungarian rival Hamori on a split decision in Paris.
The fight between Khelif and Hamori will take place on Saturday afternoon at 4:22 p.m.
She will face Hamori, who defeated Australian Marissa Williamson on Thursday
Khelif won her fight on Thursday within 46 seconds after her opponent withdrew
