Paris 2024, Carini still in shock: “I was wondering, who am I facing? Now goodbye to boxing”
“I didn’t feel like fighting after less than a minute. I took a blow to the nose and lost my balance, I couldn’t breathe and so I said enough”, explains Angela Carini, the 25-year-old Italian boxer who on Thursday abandoned the Olympic match against Algerian Imane Khelif after 46 seconds. “I wanted to get in the ring. I thought about my father, who is an example of life for me, and the efforts I made to be here. This was my Olympics for me and I wanted to run the last kilometer,” Carini told La Stampa.
“My father and God chose this path, as far as I’m concerned I respect all my opponents”, says the Italian champion. About the Algerian, she explains: “I am nobody to judge. I am nobody to make a decision. If this girl is here there must be a reason. I fought and I got into the ring, as I should do.”
Angela Carini adds: “I never protested. I never said a word. I follow the rules, I don’t decide. I just said it’s okay and whatever happens, my father is with me. My father wanted this, I do it. God wanted this, I do it. It’s okay like this.”
After the verdict, however, she did not say goodbye to her opponent: “I made a mistake, I left the ring out of anger, but not towards my opponent.” The Italian boxer gave up because “her blows are very strong”. And she had never suffered anything like it: “No, honestly not. I took a lot of hits. I am a fighter and someone who never stops in the face of pain”. She emphasizes that “there was no irregularity” but also “with all my determination and stubbornness, I was unable to move forward”.
“My nose hurts so bad. My heart is broken. I am a fighter, my father taught me to be a warrior. I get into the ring with blood in my eyes”, says Angela Carini. In this case, however, “I asked myself: who am I facing? But then it’s not up to me to decide. I feel sorry for her too, we ended up in a media boom. Who are we to judge? To say what is right and what is wrong? We are athletes, we are not judges”.
“For me it’s not a defeat. I didn’t lose, I just surrendered with maturity”, Carini’s words. “I leave with my head held high” and now “I say goodbye to boxing”.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni embraced and defended her on social media. “She acted like a mother with her daughter. She told me not to give up.”
#Paris #Carini #shock #wondering #facing #goodbye #boxing
