The Algerian boxer who was disqualified from the 2023 world championships for failing a gender eligibility test won her first bout at the Paris Olympics when her opponent quit in tears 46 seconds into the match. 

After taking several tough punches, Imane Khelif’s opponent, Angela Carini, from Italy, recused herself from the ring less than a minute after the welterweight bout began. Ms. Carini refused to shake the Algerian boxer’s hand after the match and appeared visibly emotional while leaving the ring. 

Ms. Carini told reporters after the game that she had quit because of injuries sustained during the match. “I felt a severe pain in my nose, and with the maturity of a boxer, I said ‘enough,’ because I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to, I couldn’t finish the match,” she said.

The Italian boxer did not offer an answer as to whether Ms. Khelif should be allowed to compete in the tournament. 

A video of the match has been shared all over social media, sparking outrage by those who point out the dangers of allowing a boxer with the advantages of male biology to play against a biological female. 

A critic of transgender athletes in women’s sports and former competitive swimmer, Riley Gaines, called the match “glorified male violence against women.” 

“After 46 seconds and a few hits to the face by a male, Carini forfeited the fight,” she wrote on X. “Call me crazy, but It’s almost as if women don’t want to be punched in the face by a male as the world watches and applauds.”

Author and women’s rights advocate, J.K. Rowling, a critic of transgender activism, expressed similar disapproval.

 “This isn’t sport,” she wrote, sharing a video of the match. “From the bullying cheat in red all the way up to the organisers who allowed this to happen, this is men revelling in their power over women.” 

Political commentator Meghan McCain chimed in on the debate. “How soon until a biological woman is beat to death in a situation like this? This is lunacy … Save women’s sports,” she wrote on X. 

The match comes as the International Olympic Committee faces intensifying scrutiny for allowing Ms. Khelif, and another boxer, Lin Yu-ting, of Taiwan, to participate in the women’s boxing competition at Paris even after the pair failed to meet the gender requirements of the International Boxing Association in 2023. 

After undergoing an unspecified biochemical test, the association’s president, Umar Kremlev, told Russian news outlets that the pair was found to have “XY chromosomes,” according to the Guardian newspaper. 

On Wednesday, the International Boxing Association released a statement affirming that the two boxers were disqualified from the 2023 World Championships over “their failure to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in the women’s competition, as set and laid out in the IBA Regulations.” 

The decision to remove them from the competition, the association added, was “made after a meticulous review” and “was extremely important and necessary to uphold the level of fairness and utmost integrity of the competition.”

Further, the boxing authority expressed its concern over “the inconsistent application of eligibility criteria by other sporting organizations, including those overseeing the Olympic Games.” 

“The IOC’s differing regulations on these matters, in which IBA is not involved, raise serious questions about both competitive fairness and athletes’ safety,” it added. 

While the Olympic boxing tournament has historically followed the rules of the International Boxing Association, the association was banned from running the Paris Olympics following a series of judging scandals and governance issues. 

The games are now being run by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit, which has determined that both Ms. Khelif and Ms. Yu-ting were eligible to compete in the women’s division this week at Paris. 

“They are women in their passports and it’s stated that this is the case — that they are female,” the International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said on Tuesday. He also noted that the two athletes “haven’t just suddenly arrived” on the scene, but “they competed in Tokyo” in the Olympic Games held in 2021.

The Algerian Olympic Committee released a statement yesterday rebuking criticism of its star boxer as “lies” and  “unethical targeting and maligning of our esteemed athlete, Imane Khelif, with baseless propaganda from certain foreign” press organizations.

Other boxers have expressed skepticism over the Olympic Committee’s decision. 

“I don’t agree with that being allowed, especially in combat sports as it can be incredibly dangerous,” said Australian middleweight boxer, Caitlin Parker.

“Biologically and genetically, they are going to have more advantages. Combat sports can be dangerous. Fairness is what it’s all about. We all want fairness in sport,” she added. 

Other boxers, however, have opted to remain quiet on the subject. 

Neither Ms. Khelif nor Ms. Yu-ting have released statements in response to the criticism.