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(NEXSTAR) – Algerian women’s boxer Imane Khelif beat opponent Angela Carini Thursday in just 46 seconds after the Italian abandoned the Olympic match, fueling a debate over gender testing requirements at the Olympic Games.

Before the Paris Olympics, Khelif was barred from competing further in the 2023 World Championships after she failed an unspecified gender eligibility test, prompting an ongoing debate over her presence at the Olympics.

PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 01: Imane Khelif of Team Algeria and Angela Carini of Team Italy exchange punches during the Women’s 66kg preliminary round match on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at North Paris Arena on August 01, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Khelif, along with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, failed a test mandated by the International Boxing Association (IBA), according to Reuters. In a statement Thursday, the IOC decried that decision, saying that the two athletes were “victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA,” and added that “every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination.”

During Thursday’s match, the Algerian boxer apparently dislodged Carini’s headgear multiple times before video showed Khelif hitting Carini flush in the face with a straight right hand, after which the Italian boxer signals to her corner and the referee stops the fight.

PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 01: Imane Khelif of Team Algeria looks on prior to the Women’s 66kg preliminary round match against Angela Carini of Team Italy on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at North Paris Arena on August 01, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

After the referee raises Khelif’s arm and announces her the winner, Carini appears to rip her own arm out of the official’s hand and refuses to shake her opponent’s before falling to her knees in the ring, crying.

“I am a fighter. My father taught me to be a warrior. When I am in the ring, I use that mindset, the mindset of a warrior, a winning mindset,” Carini told reporters after the bout. “This time I couldn’t make it.”

In an interview after the bout, a tearful Carini said she quit because she suffered intense pain in her nose from the first blows Khelif landed. Carini added that she was not trying to make a political statement.

“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,” Carini said, according to the Associated Press. “I am not here to judge or pass judgment. If an athlete is this way, and in that sense it’s not right or it is right, it’s not up to me to decide. I just did my job as a boxer. I got into the ring and fought. I did it with my head held high and with a broken heart for not having finished the last kilometer.”

Both Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting were cleared to compete in the Paris Games after the IOC removed governing power over Olympic boxing. The IOC decided to suspend the IBA as an Olympic governing body in 2019 after a number of disputes.

Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting shouts against Kazakhstan’s Nazym Kyazaibay in their women’s fly (51kg) quarter-final boxing match at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta on August 29, 2018. (Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP) (Photo credit should read BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images)

Carini’s withdrawal from the match and emotional interview after prompted an outpouring of commentary from well-known figures.

“It matters to be able to compete on equal grounds and from my point of view it was not an even contest,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told local media outlets.

Billionaire Elon Musk, author J.K. Rowling, and others questioned the IOC’s decision on social media.

“A young female boxer has just had everything she’s worked and trained for snatched away because you allowed a male to get in the ring with her,” posted Rowling, whose past comments on transgender people have been fiercely criticized.

BBC boxing analyst Steve Bunce called the controversy an “absolute disaster” for the Olympic sport.

“What’s interesting is in the build up to the fight, some of her old opponents, good fighters, world champions and European champions, have said [Khelif] is not a cheat,” Bunce wrote. “She’s not a devastating puncher. That is only her fifth stoppage.”

The IOC also responded Thursday, saying in a statement:

We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.

The IOC went on to say that the boxers qualified for the Olympics based on “all applicable medical regulations” and their gender and age, as stated on their passports.

“Eligibility rules should not be changed during ongoing competition, and any rule change must follow appropriate processes and should be based on scientific evidence,” the IOC said.

Khelif’s next opponent will be Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori. The two will square off Saturday in the quarterfinals.

Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting will fight on Friday against Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan.