A lip reader picked up on what Angela Carini told Imane Khelif after withdrawing from their Olympic boxing match.
Khelif, who hails from Algeria, won their first boxing match at the games after Carini, who is Italian, withdrew from the fight after 46 seconds. The Algerian is one of two boxers who were cleared to participate in the Olympics after being banned from the World Championships because they were deemed to be biological males.
Carini abandoned the bout after she was punched twice by Khelif in the opening round. Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport is reporting that a lip reader told her opponent, “it hurt like hell” after getting hit.
Angela Carini Broke Down In the Ring After Withdrawing From What She Believed Was An Unfair Fight
Angela Carini was seen crying in the center of the ring after the bout’s premature end.
“I took the second blow to the nose and it hurt so bad, I didn’t feel like continuing,” the Italian said after the fight. “Did I let myself be influenced by the media case? No, I was here to win my Olympics. Giving up was a gesture of maturity, not of surrender.”
Meanwhile, Khelif’s inclusion has been the cause of much controversy following last year’s disqualification.
The Olympics website said the boxer had been banned hours before a gold medal match against Yang Liu of China in New Delhi after failing a testosterone test due to elevated levels of the hormone.
Algeria’s Olympic Committee pushed back with claims that the disqualification was part of a conspiracy to stop the country from winning a gold medal. They also insisted that the high testosterone levels were due to “medical reasons.”
