Sprinter set to be first transgender Paralympian

Valentina Petrillo will become the first openly transgender athlete to compete at the Paralympics on Monday, representing Italy in Para-athletics in Paris.

The 50-year-old sprinter, who competes in the women’s T12 classification for athletes with visual impairments, made the transition in 2019.

Petrillo, who will race the 200m T12 from 09:48 BST and the 400m later in the competition, told BBC Sport that her participation in the Games would be an “important symbol of inclusion”.

But Mariuccia Quilleri, a lawyer and athlete who has represented several athletes opposed to Petrillo’s participation in women’s races, said inclusion had been chosen over equity and “there’s not much more we can do.”

Last year, Petrillo won two bronze medals at the World Para Athletics Championships.

The Paralympic Games will be held from August 28 to September 8.

Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), told BBC Sport that while Petrillo would be “welcome” in Paris under current World Para Athletics policies, he wants to see the sporting world “united” on its transgender policies.

What are the rules regarding transgender participation in the Paralympic Games?

There is currently no unified position in sport regarding the inclusion of transgender people.

The IPC allows international sport governing bodies to set their own policies.

There are significant differences between the policies of World Athletics and World Para Athletics.

The International Association of Athletics Federations has banned transgender women from competing in women’s events at international level. Its president, Lord Coe, said the decision was to “maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations”.

Under World Para Athletics rules, a person legally recognized as a woman is eligible to compete in the category for which her disability qualifies her.

The rules go on to say that “World Para Athletics will deal with any case involving transgender athletes in accordance with the International Olympic Committee’s transgender guidelines (as amended by the IOC from time to time) and any applicable World Para Athletics regulations.”

Parsons said last year that the IPC was not considering a decision covering all Paralympic sports.

But in an interview in Paris last weekend (August 10), he said he was comfortable with that stance only “for the moment”.

“I think the sports movement needs to, guided by science, find better answers for these situations and for transgender athletes,” Parsons said.

“We need, based on science, to have a better and probably more united response for this population.

“We need to find a valid, solid and sensible response for this population.”

Asked if he was prepared for criticism of the IPC when Petrillo competes, he said: “I am prepared for criticism.

“But again, we have to respect our rules, we cannot disrespect our rules. So sometimes as an individual I think one way or another, but we have to follow our constitution, we have to follow our own rules and in specific sports, the rules of the international federations must be respected.

“At the moment, World Para Athletics rules allow her to compete, so she will be welcome like any other athlete.”

She added: “I think it’s fair that we treat[transgender athletes]with respect. But I think science should give us the answer, because we also want to be fair to other athletes on the pitch. It’s a very difficult question. And I hope science can give us the answer. And what I would like to see in the future is for all sport to have a united position on this.”

Who is Petrillo?

Who is Petrillo?

In a previous interview with the BBC, Petrillo said she knew she was a woman since she was nine years old.

At the age of 14, Petrillo was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a degenerative eye disease.

Petrillo won 11 national titles in the men’s T12 category for visually impaired athletes between 2015 and 2018.

With the support of his wife, he began living as a woman in 2018 and began hormone therapy in January 2019.

“My metabolism has changed” She previously told the BBC.

“I’m not the energetic person I used to be. In the first few months of transition I gained 10 kilos. I can’t eat like I used to, I became anemic, I have low hemoglobin, I’m always cold, I don’t have the same physical strength, my sleep isn’t the same, I have mood swings.

“I’m not the same as before.”

She also said that her times had become slower, adding: “As an athlete, accepting that you won’t go as fast as before is difficult. I had to accept this compromise, because it is a compromise, for my happiness.”

However, she has won medals at both World Para Athletics Championships and National Para Athletics Championships since her transition, and has competed in masters athletics events against able-bodied women.

Professor Ross Tucker, a sports scientist, said: “The male advantage is created through development and so is essentially established over years and years of exposure to testosterone. The solution that sport has tried to find is that if the source of that advantage is testosterone then you reduce it and then the athlete is free to compete.

“But that doesn’t work because there is an asymmetry, because some of the changes that testosterone causes, such as increased muscle mass, increased strength, shape and size of the skeleton, do not disappear. There are some, such as hemoglobin levels, certain elements of the cardiovascular system that can disappear.

“But the strength advantages, all the evidence that exists suggests that even when you take away testosterone in an adult, those advantages still exist in that person. So sport has to realize that it can’t take away that male advantage – reduce it slightly, yes, but certainly not eliminate it. And the only conclusion that can be reached is that the person still has a male advantage even when their testosterone is lower.”

What has Petrillo said about the Paralympic Games?

Asked what her reaction was to being selected for the Paralympics, Petrillo told BBC Sport: “I’ve been waiting for this day for three years and in these last three years I’ve done everything I can to earn it.

“I deserve this selection and I would like to thank the Italian Paralympic Federation and the Italian Paralympic Committee for always believing in me, above all as a person and as an athlete.

“The historic value of being the first transgender woman to compete in the Paralympic Games is an important symbol of inclusion.”

Petrillo said that “everyone will have their questions” but only a “minority” will understand his story.

Asked what she would say to those who disagree with her presence in Paris and consider it unfair, Petrillo said: “For me, this is not a lifestyle choice, this is who I am.”

“And my way of being, like that of all transgender people who do not feel they belong to their biological gender, should not be discriminated against in the same way that race, religion or political ideology should not be discriminated against.

“And sport that imposes rules based on a binary way of thinking does not take this into account. It is sport that has to find a solution and excluding transgender athletes is clearly not that solution.

“In short, in the seven years that transgender athletes have been able to compete in the female category, there have been very few cases in which they have stood out for their sporting results.”

What have others said?

In 2021, more than 30 female athletes signed a petition that was sent by Quilleri to the president of the Italian Athletics Federation and to the ministries of Equal Opportunities and Sport. Challenging Petrillo’s right to compete in women’s races.

Asked to comment on Petrillo’s choice for the upcoming Paralympics, Quilleri told the BBC: “Each federation can choose between the concepts of inclusion and sporting justice. World Athletics has chosen the principle of the Olympic spirit, that is, it has remained faithful to the idea of ​​fair competition.

“On the other hand, the Italian Paralympic Federation has opted for inclusion.

“Visually impaired athletes who will be defeated by Valentina Petrillo will have to protest to their federations, because, unfortunately, it is the leaders of the federations who have allowed this to happen.”