Transgender sprinter Valentina Petrillo makes history at Paralympics as social media controversy rages

After Imane Khelif of Algeria faced scrutiny over her sex at the Paris Olympics 2024, a new controversy emerged at the Paralympics with famous write JK Rowling joining in. At the centre of the controversy is Italian athlete Valentina Petrillo who on Monday became the first transgender athlete to participate in the Paralympic Games.

The visually impaired Italian sprinter on Monday took part in the women’s T12 400 meters race. She qualified for the semi-final by registering a timing of 58.35 in the fourth heat of the first round but failed to reach the final of the event. The 50-year-old ran a personal best 57.58 seconds in the second semifinal but finished behind Iran’s Hajar Safarzadeh Ghahderijani and Venezuela’s Alejandra Paola Perez Lopez, who both advanced to Tuesday’s final.

Her involvement in the Paralympics, however, has raged a massive furore on social media with several users terming it to be unfair to other female athletes.

Sharron Davies of Great Britain, who won silver in swimming in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, criticised Petrillo’s participation in the Paralympics in women’s race.

“…we let 51 year old male Valentina Petrillo have a huge advantage with no issue at all against female athletes! Why is this being allowed?” Davies wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

JK Rowling of the Harry Potter book series fame wrote: “Why all the anger about the inspirational Petrillo? The cheat community has never had this kind of visibility! Out and proud cheats like Petrillo prove the era of cheat-shaming is over. What a role model! I say we give Lance Armstrong his medals back and move on. #Cheats #NoShame.”

One of the users on X wrote that Petrillo is “A cheating, larping, sexist man” who “steals from women with disabilities.”

Who is Valentina Petrillo?

Petrillo was diagnosed with Stargardt disease when she was 14, a retinal disease that causes a progressive loss of vision. Petrillo stopped running as a result, though her dream to compete was sparked by Italian athlete Pietro Mennea’s 200-meter gold-medal performance in the 1980 Olympics.

She began her transition in 2019 but has been competing in para-sport since she was 41. She collected bronze medals in the 200 and 400 world championship races in 2023 with times of 26.31 and 58.24, respectively.

Petrillo has a son with his wife and after failing to reach the women’s T12 400m final, she hoped her son was proud of his “trans dad”.

“I tried my best until the end, I didn’t make it, I missed the last straight,” Petrillo said. “I pushed more than I did this morning and I tried my best. They are stronger than me, I had to go down too much, to do a 56 [­seconds]. With 57.50, I have to be happy even if I’m a little down.

“I’m a little down, but I hope my son will be proud of me. This is important to me because he has a trans dad, not the dad that everyone dreams of. But I hope he will be proud of me.”

What are the rules?

The World Para Athletics association permits transgender athletes to compete in women’s events under rule 4.5, which states that anyone legally recognised as a woman can compete in female categories. This policy contrasts with the World Athletics’ regulations, which have different criteria for transgender athletes.

With agency inputs