Valentina Petrillo, the Italian sprinter hoping to be ‘first of many’ trans Paralympians

ROME – Valentina Petrillo will become the first openly transgender athlete to compete at the Paralympics, and wants to be the “first of many” when the sprinter debuts at the Games in Paris on Aug 28.

The Italian will realise a childhood dream at 50 years old when she walks out onto the Stade de France track to compete in the 400m in the T12 category for visually impaired athletes.

In an interview with AFP, Petrillo says that it will be “the most important moment of my sporting career” after just missing out on the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago.

She has long suffered from Stargardt disease, a genetic retinal condition which leads to progressive loss of vision.

Since missing out on Tokyo, she has been gunning for Paris.

However, not competing at the Games in 2021 was less painful than failing to qualify for the 1996 Paralympics, some time before her “coming out” as a woman in 2017.

“When I was a man I wasn’t myself, 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,” said Petrillo.

After representing Italy in blind football, she reconnected with her first passion, the 200m, which she fell in love with thanks to former Olympic champion and world record holder Pietro Mennea, and the 400m.

Hormone treatment allowed her to cut testosterone levels by four in order to comply with international eligibility regulations for women’s para-athletics events.

World Athletics banned transgender athletes from women’s competitions in 2023, but World Para Athletics rules allow a person legally recognised as a woman to compete in the category their impairment qualifies them for.

After officially becoming a woman in the eyes of the Italian state in 2023, Petrillo won bronzes in both distances at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris and she has ambitious goals for the upcoming Games.

“I want to improve my personal bests, 25.77 seconds in the 200m and 58.01sec in the 400m. If I manage that, then a medal might not be far away,” she said.

But she knows that more than her on-track performance, her appearance in Paris, which comes three years after weightlifter Laurel Hubbard became the first transgender athlete to participate in the Olympics, will garner a different kind of attention.

She expects criticism and cyber bullying, saying: “I know I’m going to be criticised... But I’m here, I’ve fought for years to get here and I’m not scared. I am who I am.”

However, Petrillo sees herself as a symbol for transgender people in sport.

“I often say that if I’ve done it, others can do it,” she added.

“I hope to be the first of many, a point of reference for others, a source of inspiration. My experience can be useful to other people, whether or not they have visual disabilities or if they are trans or not.”

Petrillo can count on the support of family as she insists her ageing father has always supported her, and will be cheered on at the Stade de France by her children, brother and ex-wife.

“I’m lucky, I’m going to the thing I love the most, what I’ve always dreamt of doing – running in a stadium,” she said. AFP