Openly transgender Italian sprinter Valentina Petrillo makes Paralympic history
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Valentina Petrillo finished second in her heat of the T12 400 metres on Sept 2.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS – The first openly transgender athlete in Paralympics history, Italian sprinter Valentina Petrillo, competed in the Paris Games on Sept 2.
The 50-year-old finished second in her heat of the 400 metres T12, a category for visually impaired athletes, in 58.35sec. She qualified for the semi-finals, which took place after press time.
Petrillo suffers from Stargardt disease, a genetic retinal condition which leads to progressive loss of vision. Unlike her opponents in the race, she competed without a guide runner.
In an interview ahead of the Games, Petrillo said competing in Paris would be “the most important moment of my sporting career” after she just missed out on the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago.
She came out as a woman in 2017.
“When I was a man, I wasn’t myself,” she said.
“I ran with the handbrake on and I wasn’t happy. Certainly not as happy as I am now, even if I’m a little bit older.”
After first representing Italy in blind football, Petrillo reconnected with her first passion, the 200m, which she fell in love with after being inspired by former Olympic champion and world-record holder Pietro Mennea.
During the Games, she is also expected to run the 200m, in which she won bronze in the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships.
Meanwhile, Jetze Plat won the first event of the triathlon in Paris, which finally got under way on Sept 2 after being postponed due to water quality concerns regarding the Seine.
The 33-year-old Dutchman finished in 58min 16sec to claim his third Paralympic title in a row, after victories at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
“It’s difficult to (express feelings),” said Plat. “I’m mostly just relieved. It’s my third title in the triathlon and I’m very proud of that.”
The podium of the men’s PTWC race – the triathlon event for wheelchair users – was completed by Austria’s Florian Brungraber in silver position and Geert Schipper of the Netherlands in bronze.
The triathlon events were initially scheduled over two days.
But, due to concerns about bacteria levels in the Seine – where the swimming stage takes place – the organisers announced last week that all the 11 races would take place on Sept 1.
Then, following heavy rain on Aug 31, which can stir up pollution in the river, the organisers and governing body World Triathlon postponed the races to Sept 2.
The water quality issue also disrupted the Olympics triathlon and open-water swimming events
Despite a €1.4 billion (S$2.03 billion) upgrade to improve the Paris sewerage and water treatment system, the Seine has been dogged by pollution concerns,
