Valentina Petrillo, an Italian sprinter, wasn’t able to win a medal in the women’s T12 400-meter sprint on Monday because she came in third place. She was the first openly transgender athlete to participate in the Paralympic Games.
With a time of 58.35 in the first round heat, the 50-year-old athlete, who in 2019, made it to the quarterfinals.
Petrillo made it to the semifinals with a time of 57.58, which was his personal best. It wasn’t enough, though, to make it to Tuesday’s final. After Hajar Safarzadeh Ghahderijani of Iran and Alejandra Paola Perez Lopez of Venezuela, the Italian came in third.
As a youngster, Petrillo was told he had Stargardt disease, an eye disease that gets worse over time. Between 2015 and 2018, Petrillo won 11 national titles as a man in the men’s T12 category before he finally changed his gender.
Petrillo recently talked to The Associated Press about her desire to race in the female category in 2020. She said that she realized her dream in 2020. We all have the right to a second chance, and I got to 50 before it came true.
As long as they say they are female for sports purposes and show proof that their testosterone levels have been below 10 nanomoles per liter of blood for at least 12 months before their first competition, World Para Athletics will allow them to compete. World athletics banned athletes who transitioned after puberty from competing in women’s events.
At first, Petrillo was said to be the first transgender athlete to compete in the Paralympic Games. However, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) told the BBC that Dutch transgender athlete Ingrid van Kranen, who participated in the 2016 Games in Rio, was the first.
Petrillo could still get a medal at the Olympics in the T12 200-meter for women. The first round starts on Friday and the final is set for Saturday.
