- The 50-year-old said competing at the Games had been a childhood dream.
- Petrillo previously competed in men’s events before her transition in 2019.
- The children’s book author previously criticised Imane Khelif’s spell in Paris
The first transgender athlete at the Paralympics has defended her appearance in Paris after competing amid a maelstrom of controversy in the French capital.
Valentina Petrillo represented Italy in the women’s T12 200m and 400m sprint races for visually impaired athletes after receiving hormone therapy and beginning her transition in 2019.
The 50-year-old was born with Stargardt disease, a degenerative eye disease for which there is no cure, but which allows her to compete in the race without a guide.
Petrillo failed to reach the final in any of her events, falling off the pace in the semi-finals, but her participation sparked international interest from online commentators who believe she should not have competed in the women’s races.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling called Petrillo a “total cheat” for taking part in the races, despite her total testosterone level being below the required 10 nanomoles per litre of blood for 12 months before her first competition as a woman.
Valentina Petrillo has defended her right to participate in the women’s events at the Paralympic Games
The sprinter previously competed as a man before beginning her transition in 2019; she has since consistently met the IOC’s testosterone requirements.
But in her first English-language interview since the Games, Petrillo called criticism of her inclusion in the tournament pure “transphobia” and denied it had led to an increase in the number of competitors denying biological women the chance to compete at the highest level.
“Since 2015, when the IOC opened the Olympics to transgender people, there has only been one person who competed, Laurel Hubbard,” Petrillo said. The timesquoting a New Zealand weightlifter who participated in the Tokyo 2020 Games.
‘And there has only been one (openly transgender) person who has participated in the Paralympics, me.
‘So this whole fear of trans people destroying the world (of women’s sport) doesn’t actually exist.
The 50-year-old failed to qualify for the finals in any of her Paralympic events in France.
“It was said that many men would compete as women just to win, but that hasn’t happened at all,” Petrillo added. “It’s just transphobia.”
Hubbard’s inclusion as part of New Zealand’s delegation to Japan three years ago sparked similar controversy, but like Petrillo, the weightlifter failed to progress in competition.
The 43-year-old, who was the fourth-oldest competitor to compete at the Games, finished last in her group after three failed starts.
Petrillo also had some words for JK Rowling, who previously weighed in to call for the expulsion of Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, two Olympic boxers who allegedly “failed gender eligibility tests” conducted by the unaffiliated IBA.
“JK Rowling is only concerned with the fact that I use the women’s bathroom, but she knows nothing about me,” Petrillo continued.
JK Rowling called Petrillo a “proud and declared cheater” in an incendiary post on social media
The children’s book author had already been involved in a heated debate over Imane Khelif’s participation in the Paris Games.
The athlete’s comments came after Petrillo had previously responded to criticism on the track, telling reporters she had “never read Harry Potter.”
Petrillo shares a son, Lorenzo, with his ex-wife Elena and previously won 11 national titles in three years while competing in men’s competitions.
Before the competition, Petrillo shared that her participation in the Games was the fulfillment of a dream “since I was a little girl,” but insisted she was tempering her expectations.
“It is better to be a slow and happy woman than a fast and unhappy man,” she added.
