Valentina Petrillo, first transgender athlete to participate in the Paralympic Games

This Monday, a social barrier will be broken Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The Italian athlete Valentina Petrillo will be, at fifty years of age, the first transgender athlete to participate in the competition. He will do so at the Stadium de France in the 400 meters in the T12 category, in a Games where he also has a place in the 200 meters event.

Petrillo, at fifty years old, participates in a category for visually impaired athletes. suffer the Stargardt diseasean eye problem that causes progressive vision loss and he has had since his teenage years. This is what pushed him to achieve his great dream of being in the Paralympic Games.

The Italian practiced athletics when he was young, but his illness forced him to give it up. He focused on blind football, although he eventually chose to return to tartan to take speed trials after being inspired by Pietro Mennea. Born a boy, he didn’t qualify for the 1996 Atlanta Games, but he didn’t give up.

Of course, feeling at peace with oneself. The athlete informed his wife in 2017 that he was going to start his transitiona process that began in 2019 and ended in 2023. In between, she began competing as a woman. Tried to qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Gameswhich made her the first trans woman to seek qualification for the Paralympic Games. However, he did not get the pass, even though he started showing his name with great progress in international competitions.

Yes, he qualified for these Games in Paris. In the World Cup held in the French city last year, Petrillo won bronze medals in the 200 and 400 meters and tied for the classification. A computer engineer by profession, he came to the gala event with the intention of putting down his personal best to get closer to the fight for medals.

“I fought for years to get here and I’m not afraid”Petrillo explained to various media at the start of the Paralympic Games. “I’m happy as a woman and running as a woman is what I love. I dream of a future where no one will ever hear stories like mine.”, he explained.

A defined regulation

Her case has generated considerable controversy in Paralympic sports, but the truth is that Petrillo is not the first trans athlete to participate in the Games. The New Zealander has already done it at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics Laurel Hubbard in weightlifting. Now, Petrillo will take up the baton and become a pioneer in his sport. “This will be the most important moment of my sports career.” and hopefully there will be many more cases,” he declared to AFP a few days ago.

The participation of transgender athletes in the Games is governed by each sports federation. In the case of athletics, World Athletics and World Para Athleticsthe latter is the federation that Perillo belongs to different regulations. World Athletics allows the participation of transsexual women in the women’s category at the international level if the transition is made after puberty.

however, World Para Athletics requires declaring female gender identity and reducing testosterone levels less than ten nanomoles per liter of blood in the twelve months before the first competition. Valentina Petrillo met these requirements and this Monday she will make history in Paris.