Italian boxer Angela Carini says ‘I quit to save my life’ after stopping Olympic bout 46 seconds in

Carini refused to shake hands with Khelif after the fight, as she wept on the canvas with a possible broken nose.

“After the second [punch] I couldn’t breathe anymore,” Carini said.

“I quit to save my own life.

“I went to my coach and said ‘enough’ because it takes maturity and courage to stop. I didn’t feel like fighting anymore.”

Her coach said: “She felt pain in her nose and said to me ‘I don’t want to fight anymore’.”

The fight itself had already been controversial – Khelif, who is 5ft 10, was one of two women boxers cleared to compete after being disqualified from last year’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi.

The Algerian was disqualified for failing to meet the necessary gender eligibility criteria, despite being raised and living as a woman since her birth.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has said: “I have been trying to explain for years that, when taken to the extreme, some theses risk impacting women’s rights.