The decision to allow the first ever trans athlete to compete as a woman in the Paralympics has caused outrage.
Visually impaired Italian sprinter, Valentina Petrillo, 50, is set to become the first-ever transgender athlete to compete at the Paralympic Games and believes her participation is an ‘important symbol of inclusion’.
But not everyone shares her view, with Olympic medalist Sharron Davies leading the backlash over letting Petrillo, who transitioned in 2019, compete in the women’s category.
‘Yet another male excluding females from their own category. There’s no inclusion for women in woke sports rules just unfairness, increased danger in a combat sport & disrespect for the whole point of categories,’ Davies wrote on X.
She joined former British marathon runner Mara Yamauchi, who already voiced her fury last year after Petrillo won two bronze medals at the Para Athletics World Championships, writing: ‘Yet another female athlete robbed.’
Petrillo has repeatedly hit back at her critics, writing last year that those who criticise her inclusion in women’s sprinting events are ‘like Hitler’.
Visually impaired Italian sprinter, Valentina Petrillo (pictured), 50, is set to become the first-ever transgender athlete to compete at the Paralympic Games
But not everyone shares her view, with Olympic medalist Sharron Davies leading the backlash over letting Petrillo compete in the women’s category
Petrillo, who transitioned in 2019, is due to compete in the T12 200m and 400m in Paris
The trans athlete said that critics turning away from her in protest at awards ceremonies are ‘like Hitler’ when he excluded Jews from joining the German national team in 1933.
‘You even questioned whether I had vision problems. You relegated me to a “dedicated” bathroom like you do with plague victims. […] This is called Xenophobia,’ she wrote on her Facebook page last year.
Petrillo won bronze in the T12 200m and 400m at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships – with Peter Eriksen, Canada‘s former Olympic head coach, calling the results ‘shocking’ – and will compete in the T12 200m and 400m in Paris.
Speaking on her selection by the Italian team for the upcoming Paralympics, Petrillo – who will begin her attempts to win at the upcoming games in the T12 women’s 400m on Monday, September 2, – thanked organisers for her selection.
‘I have been waiting for this day for three years and in these past three years I have done everything possible to earn it,’ Petrillo told BBC Sport.
‘I deserve this selection and I want to thank the Italian Paralympic Federation and the Italian Paralympic Committee for having always believed in me, above all as a person as well as an athlete.
‘The historic value of being the first transgender woman to compete at the Paralympics is an important symbol of inclusion.’
Others who waded into the gender row around Petrillo’s participation were Sex Matters’ Maya Forstater, who shared a post on X calling the sprinter being allowed to compete with women more than 18 years younger than her ‘absurd’.
Another person commented on X: ‘This is very unfair’, with a second adding: ‘Must be stopped.
Petrillo competed in men’s national races before transitioning in 2019. The athlete was born with Stargardt disease – a degenerative eye condition where tissue develops on the small part of a person’s retina that is used for sharp vision.
Common symptoms include a gradual loss of eyesight and the illness is believed to be caused by changes in a person’s genes. There is no known cure for the illness. There is no cure for Stargardt disease.
In 2017, Petrillo had told her wife that she was transgender and would later start hormone treatment, with her wife supporting her through the process. They remain married and have two children.
She said: ‘I hadn’t planned it. I was in bed with my wife, about to fall asleep, and I said: “Remember I told you once I dressed up as a woman?” She said: “In reality, it wasn’t once, I do it every day.”‘
Valentina Petrillo of Italy poses after competing in 100m T12 during the Italian Paralympic Athletics at Stadio Armando Picchi on September 11, 2020 in Jesolo, Italy
Petrillo (pictured above in Paris last year) was born with Stargardt disease – a degenerative eye condition where tissue develops on the small part of a person’s retina that is used for sharp vision
Valentina Petrillo of Italy competes in the Women’s 400m T12 Final during day six of the Para Athletics World Championships Paris 2023 at Stade Charlety on July 13, 2023 in Paris, France
Petrillo transitioned in 2019. Petrillo’s wife was supportive as the athlete transitioned and they remain married and living together with their two children
Petrillo would go on to compete in her first race as a transgender athlete at the Italian Paralympics Championship in September 2020. It was here that she won gold in the T12 100m, 200m and 400m events.
In 2021, Petrillo, who is just under 5ft 10in tall and weighs 13lb heavier than before transitioning.
Petrillo’s times are slower than before transitioning despite taking home gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m T12 events at the national championships.
Petrillo previously told the BBC: ‘Better to be a slow happy woman than a fast unhappy man. I don’t feel like I’m stealing anything from anyone.’
The athlete also previously reported side-effects including being anaemic, experiencing mood swings and feeling physically weaker.
‘I understand the doubts, but I do not think I have an advantage,’ Petrillo said in 2020. ‘My performances have dropped mercilessly.’
Petrillo hoped this would result in a place at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021 – but the Italian Disabled Sports Association refused to grant a nomination.
It did not give its reasons for the decision publicly, but the Telegraph reported that it had been under intense pressure from the athlete’s fellow competitors.
In 2023, when Petrillo won a 200m women’s race in Ancona, Cristina Sanulli, who finished second said: ‘We do not feel equal because Petrillo’s physical structure is male. So we are not running at par.
‘Although the personal path that Valentina has taken is respectable, athletically speaking it is not, and because of this we feel very discriminated against.’
