Transgender sprinter Valentina Petrillo reaches 400m semi-finals on Paralympic debut

The Italian transgender sprinter Valentina Petrillo said that her debut at the Paralympic Games was “the realisation of history” after she qualified for the semi-finals of the T12 400m on Monday.

Petrillo, 51, finished second in her heat at the Stade de France, but qualified for the semi-finals as one of the four fastest runners-up. She said that her success should be seen as a moment to raise awareness of discrimination against transgender people.

“For me, it’s the realisation of history,” she said after her race. “We are here today, on 2 September 2024. Let’s mark this down as a historic day. From this day forth I don’t want to hear any more talk about discrimination or prejudice for trans people. Now I’ve made it, so we can all make it if I’ve made it, I’ve done my little bit.”

Petrillo competes in the T12 category for visually impaired athletes. Her time of 58.35sec was some three seconds slower than that of the Cuban Omara Durand, the multiple Paralympic champion and icon of parasport. The semi-finals of the competition take place on Monday evening.

“Tonight we are racing for the final,” Petrillo said. “I spent a little too much compared to what I have to spend. But we will enjoy it. Today I had to break the ice. It was difficult. I broke the ice. 35% of the result was good. But tonight we will not stop.”

Petrillo underwent a gender transition in 2019 after a successful career as a male para-athlete. She developed Stargardt disease, a degenerative eye condition, as a child.

The Italian has found herself at the centre of a debate over inclusion within parasport after World Para Athletics set rules that allowed for transgender athletes to compete in women’s competition if they are “recognised as female in law”.

This is an approach contrary to that set by World Athletics, which determines criteria for entry into the Olympics. Lord Coe, the president of World Athletics, had said the policy was arrived at in order to “maintain fairness for female athletes above all other consideration”.

Petrillo was initially reported to be the first openly transgender Paralympian. However, the Dutch athlete Ingrid van Kranen finished ninth in the women’s discus final at the Rio 2016 Games.