Imane Khelif and Angela Carini (Photos via Imagn Images & Instagram)
Some fights end when the bell rings, but others don’t. Italian boxer Angela Carini knows this too well. A year after she tearfully quit her Olympic match against Algeria’s Imane Khelif in Paris, the 26-year-old says the abuse that followed “destroyed her career.”

Carini’s clash with Khelif lasted just 46 seconds. She quit mid-bout after taking a string of punches and later explained the pain forced her to stop. The decision shocked fans, drew headlines worldwide, and dragged her into a storm that has only grown louder.

The episode even resurfaced recently as Khelif talked about her difficult phase, and her new makeover was also noticed.

Carini’s Career Left In Pieces

Angela Carini of Italy in action against Imane Khelif (Photo By Isabel Infantes/Reuters via USA TODAY Sports)

Carini chose to speak directly to her followers this week. On Friday, she posted a video on Instagram showing screenshots of the online attacks she had received. Messages called her a coward, and some told her not to step into the Olympics again.

In the clip, she added her own voiceover, breaking down how those words cut into her life.

“Have you ever wondered how hard it was for me to face these words?” she asked. “That past changed and destroyed my career, built year after year with sacrifices, dedication, tenacity and passion.”

Her career once promised much. She grabbed silver at the 2019 world and European championships and reached the Tokyo Games in 2021. Paris, though, became the turning point. Carini left the arena in tears, and the debate over Khelif’s eligibility only made the things tough. Even political leaders like Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni weighed in.

The International Boxing Association had banned both Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting from the 2023 worlds for failing undisclosed tests. The IOC later cleared them to fight in Paris. Khelif went on to win gold. The controversy has since fueled calls for tougher rules, with Khelif herself later responding publicly after the IOC’s new measures came in.

Carini admits the fallout pushed her into silence. “After Paris, I closed myself with my family and tried to rebuild in small pieces,” she said.

“Getting back into that ring was a tough challenge,” she explained. “These words of mine will not change the world, but at least I invite everyone to reflect. A word, a gesture, a command can hurt and destroy a person.”

But she refused to leave the sport. In December, she returned, winning her eighth Italian title and another gold at the World Boxing Cup in Poland.