First Transgender In Paralympics To Compete Publicly Advances To Semifinals

Valentina Petrillo, an Italian sprinter, has become the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Paralympic Games. She qualified for the women’s T12 400m semi-finals by finishing second in her heat in 58.35 seconds. 

Petrillo qualified sixth fastest for the semi-finals, 2.99 seconds behind the top qualifier and world record holder, Omara Durand of Cuba. 

The semi-finals begin on Monday, while the final is on Tuesday.

“The atmosphere in the stadium is great”

Petrillo, who transitioned in 2019, expressed her desire to compete in the Paris Games as a “important symbol of inclusion” and to avoid further discrimination and prejudice against transgender people, highlighting sport’s lack of a unified position on transgender inclusion.

The IPC president, Andrew Parsons, wants the sporting world to unite on transgender policies. Petrillo will be welcomed under current World Para Athletics policies, but he also wants to see the sporting world unite on transgender policies.

Mariuccia Quilleri, a lawyer who opposes Petrillo’s participation in women’s races, believes that inclusion was prioritized over fairness. 

Oksana Boturchuk of Ukraine, who is racing in the semi-final heats, believes the scenario is wrong. According to Venezuela’s Paralympic Committee (VPC), it is a “terrible inequality that puts female athletes at a great disadvantage.” 

General secretary Johan Marin opposes discrimination, inequality, and exclusion, claiming that individual rights, inclusion, and equality must always take precedence. 

Marin advocates for an open category for transgender athletes to compete, calling it the “fairest and most sensible thing”.

Petrillo won 11 national titles in the male T12 category

From 2015 to 2018, Petrillo won 11 national titles in the male T12 category for visually impaired athletes. She began living as a woman in 2018 with the assistance of her wife, and hormone therapy began in January 2019.

In 2021, Italian athlete Petrillo reported that her hormone medication changed her metabolism, resulting in slower timings and poorer energy levels. Over 30 female athletes signed a petition contesting her eligibility to compete in women’s races. 

Last year, she earned two bronze medals at the World Para Athletics Championship. The petition was delivered to the Italian Athletics Federation and the Ministries of Equal Opportunity and Sport.

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