Valentina Petrillo has made history as the first transgender woman chosen to compete in the Paralympic Games in Paris, France this year.
She is a para-athlete from Naples, Italy, and was selected to represent her country in the 200m and 400m races. Last year, the 50-year-old, who has a visual impairment, won bronze medals in both events at the World Para Athletics Championships.
Petrillo transitioned in 2019, after previously winning 11 national titles in the men’s category.
“I still can’t believe it. I’m staying grounded because I just missed the chance to compete in Tokyo,” Petrillo said. “I’ll start thinking about the Paris Games once I’m in France.”
According to The Guardian, Petrillo was diagnosed with Stargardt disease at age 14, which reduced her vision to just 1/50th of normal eyesight.
Petrillo’s journey has been full of challenges, and she might have already been known to Paralympic viewers if things had turned out differently.
As early as the 1996 Paralympic Games, Petrillo’s coaches believed she had a strong chance of qualifying. However, she decided not to pursue it because she didn’t feel comfortable competing as a man.
In 2018, with her wife’s support, Petrillo faced her gender dysphoria and began living as a woman. The next year, she started hormone therapy, which led to a decrease in her athletic performance—she lost about 11 seconds in the 400-meter race and 2.5 seconds in the 200-meter race, which was her specialty.
Petrillo said, “It’s better to be a slow, happy woman than a fast, unhappy man.”
In 2020, she started competing against women and eventually won bronze in the women’s 200m and 400m events at the World Para Athletics Championships in 2023.
Later that same year, World Athletics banned transgender women from competing in the female category at international events, stating that no transgender athlete who had gone through male puberty would be allowed to participate in female world ranking competitions.
However, there isn’t a global agreement on this issue. For example, the International Paralympic Committee allows each sport’s governing body to create its own rules about transgender inclusion.
As a result, Petrillo is set to make history as the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Paralympic Games, representing Italy in Paris.
Reactions to Petrillo’s participation in the Games have been mixed. Some people are celebrating her inclusion, while others are questioning if it’s fair for her to compete against women.
At the same time, old photos of Petrillo before her transition have caught people’s attention. While she now has short blonde hair, this is what the 50-year-old looked like before:
In an interview with BBC Sport, Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, said that Petrillo is welcome to compete in Paris under World Para Athletics rules. However, he hopes the sports world can come together and agree on transgender policies.
