Italian Boxer Angela Carini Says Online Abuse After Paris Olympic Loss Has 'Destroyed My Career'

Angela Carini said the online abuse she has received since her 46-second exit from an Olympic bout last year has “destroyed” her boxing career, publishing a video on social media that laid bare messages she said have left her and her family scarred.

In the Instagram video posted this week, the 26-year-old shared screenshots of messages calling her “a coward” and “the shame of the Italy team,” and recorded a voiceover describing what she said has been daily harassment. "Have you ever wondered how hard it was for me to face these words? What I had to endure and endure day after day?" Carini asked in the recording.

Carini abandoned her opening bout against Algeria's Imane Khelif at the Paris Olympics after 46 seconds, later saying she stopped because of pain from early punches. Her decision drew immediate international attention and intensified debate over eligibility rules after Khelif went on to win the Olympic gold medal in that division.

Both Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting had been disqualified by the International Boxing Association, which the notes described as Russian-dominated, from the 2023 world championships for what the IBA called unspecified eligibility failures. The International Olympic Committee, applying sex eligibility rules used at previous Games, permitted the athletes to compete in Paris.

Carini said the controversy reopened old wounds. "For many it is easy to forget the past, but for me it wasn't," she said in the video. She said the episode had left her with lasting pain and that insults and online attacks had compounded that suffering. "That past that changed and destroyed my career, built year after year with sacrifices, dedication, tenacity and a lot of passion... That career that is underestimated and belittled by those who preferred to have a laugh for a few moments, preferred to throw the stone," she said.

Her exit from the bout prompted debate beyond sporting circles, drawing public comment from international figures and political leaders, according to reporting at the time. Carini said she withdrew from public life with her family for a time after Paris and worked to rebuild herself "in small pieces."

Before the Paris Games, Carini had earned silver medals at the world and European championships in 2019 and had been eliminated in her opening match at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The Instagram post documented messages that urged her not to seek another Olympic appearance and included insults and taunts that she said were shared without thought.

Carini returned to competition in December, winning her eighth Italian national title and taking gold at the World Boxing Cup in Poland. In the video she said getting back into the ring was a difficult but necessary step and listed those recent results as proof of her continuing commitment to the sport.

"Putting all the disappointment aside, I got back into that ring, reconfirming myself as Italian champion and bringing home medals from important international tournaments," she said in the recording. She added that while her words may not change public behavior, she hoped they would prompt reflection. "A word, a gesture, a command can hurt and destroy a person," she said.

The dispute over eligibility and the outcry after the Paris bout led to scrutiny of boxing governance and the rules determining who may compete at the highest level. The International Boxing Association's actions in 2023 and the IOC's subsequent decisions informed the context of the match and the reactions that followed.

Carini's public airing of the messages and her account of the psychological toll come amid wider conversations in sport about athlete welfare and the impact of social media harassment. She has not announced plans to retire and has continued to compete nationally and in select international tournaments since returning to the ring.

Her post on social media underscored her appeal for greater awareness of the effects of online abuse on athletes, and concluded with an invitation to the public to consider the consequences of words and collective behavior toward competitors.