Transgender father-of-two, 51, becomes the Paralympics’ FIRST trans track athlete and qualifies for the women’s 400m T12 semi-final after beating five female rivals’ times in the heats
An athlete who has won 11 national men’s titles qualified for the Paralympics 400m women’s semi-final at the age of 51 in Paris on Monday, after the sport’s governing body accepted the athlete’s eligibility to compete.
Italian Valentina Petrillo, a father-of-two who was still competing at 45 as a male and claims an entitlement to enter the female category for the sake of ‘happiness’, came second in her heat, in which she beat a Chinese runner who is 18 years younger than her.
World Para Athletics (WPA) insist that Petrillo’s testosterone levels, after transitioning, render her fit to race. While the Venezuelan and Chinese competitors in her T12 heat for visually impaired athletes needed a guide, Pertrillo ran unaided.
Visually impaired athletes often run with a guide to navigate their way around the track safely. As visual impairment varies from athlete-to-athlete, some wear blindfolds to ensure fairness, while others, such as Petrillo, are permitted to run without a guide or blindfold.
Female athletes have said the runner – the first transgender athlete to compete on the track at the Paralympics, after a Dutch woman in 2016 – has a distinct advantage
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