It only took 46 seconds.
Imane Khelif of Algeria was wearing red. The 25-year-old boxer posed for the camera and stretched her arms as she entered the ring. She was five-foot-ten and competing in the women's 66kg division of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Her opponent was Angela Carini of Italy, who was wearing blue. She was also 25 years old. And in the ring, the two-inch height difference showed.
Khelif had the upper hand in a flurry of exchanges early on.
At the 2:24 mark of the first round, Carini raised her hand and asked for her headgear to be adjusted.
Six seconds later, she absorbed a right straight from Khelif. The Italian raised her hand again and approached her coach. She was quitting the match.
The referee raised Khelif's hand to declare victory, while Carini was downcast.
The Algerian approached to shake her hand, but the Italian was not even looking in her direction. She walked in front of Khelif towards the other side of the ring.
Carini went down on her knees and cried.
Carini told reporters after the match she felt intense pain on her nose after being punched.
"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.
"I am heartbroken because I am a fighter," Carini added. "My father taught me to be a warrior. I have always stepped into the ring with honor and I have always (served) my country with loyalty. And this time I couldn’t do it because I couldn’t fight anymore, and so I ended the match."
"Being able to compete on equal terms counts too," said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to Italian news agency ANSA. "And from my point of view, it was not a fair contest."
The Algerian Olympic Committee issued a statement condemning what it termed "lies" and "unethical targeting and maligning of our esteemed athlete, Imane Khelif, with baseless propaganda from certain foreign media outlets."
Who is Imane Khelif?
Khelif is one of two boxers being called into question in the women's division of the Olympic Games.
Last year, she was disqualified just hours before her gold medal match in the 2023 World Championships in India, after her elevated levels of testosterone failed to meet the eligibility criteria.
But she was still allowed to compete in Paris 2024, having beaten Alcinda Panguana (MOZ) in the final of the 2023 African Olympic qualification tournament.
It should also be noted that changing genders is illegal in Algeria.
Khelif previously reached the quarterfinals of the lightweight (60kg) division in Tokyo 2020, losing to Ireland's Kellie Harrington.
She was also a silver medalist at the light welterweight category (63kg) at the 2022 World Championships, the first female Algerian boxer to win a world championship medal.
She is also a UNICEF ambassador to Algeria appointed in January 2024 to help tackle Algeria's obesity epidemic.
The other athlete, Lin Yu-ting
The other athlete being called into question is Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei, who will compete in the women's 57kg round of 16 against Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan on August 2.
Lin is in the same category as the Philippines' Nesthy Petecio.
In fact, it was Petecio who beat Lin in the round of 16 back in Tokyo 2020.
The Chinese Taipei boxer is a three-time world champion medalist. She eventually won gold in the 2022 Asian Games.
But at the 2023 World Championships in Delhi, India, Lin was stripped of her bronze medal after failing to meet eligibility requirements based on the results of a biochemical test.
It was the first time a Chinese Taipei athlete had been required to take a biochemical test for gender eligibility since the International Boxing Association (IBA) started to use the new testing method.
Lin Yu-ting pictured in the blue uniform. Photo: Asian Boxing Confederation
What IBA and IOC say about the issue
IBA released a statement regarding the matter, explaining the disqualifications back in 2023.
"The athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential. This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors," the statement read.
IBA explained two tests were conducted: one duirng the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul 2022 and another during the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi 2023.
"Lin Yu-ting did not appeal the IBA’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), thus rendering the decision legally binding," IBA said.
"Imane Khelif initially appealed the decision to CAS but withdrew the appeal during the process, also making the IBA decision legally binding," the organization added.
However, IBA is no longer involved in the Olympic Games.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been running the boxing competition for the Olympics after stripping IBA of recognition, a fallout from a years-long dispute.
IBA, previously known as AIBA, oversaw Olympic boxing until 2019. In 2023, the IOC formally strip the organisation of its recognition citing "financial transparency" and issues around "fairness in the appointment of judges and referees."
In a press conference, the IOC backed the boxers called into question.
They maintained this should not be considered or labeled as a transgender issue.
"These (questions over transgender boxers fighting in women's games) involves real people. And we're talking about real people's lives here. They have competed and they continue to compete in the women's competition. They have lost and they've won against other women throughout, over the years," said IOC spokesperson Mark Adams.
"And by the way, this isn't, should make this absolutely clear for everyone, this is not a transgender issue. I know you know that but I think there has been some misreporting on this. And I think it's very, very important to say that this is not a transgender issue. These women have been competing in competitions for many years."
"Everyone competing in the women's category is complying with the competition eligibility rules. They are women in their passports and it is stated that is the case," Adams emphasized. "They are eligible by the rules of the federation, which was set in 2016, and which worked for Tokyo too, to compete as women, which is what they are. And we fully support that."
(Reports from The Associated Press, ANSA)