Valentina Petrillo, a transgender sprinter with visual impairment, said she felt accepted by her teammates despite the intense publicity she received outside the French Paralympic village.
The 51-year-old sprinter advanced to the T12 200- and 400-metre semi-finals at the most recent Paralympic Games in Paris after transitioning in 2019. Despite criticism for her participation, the Italian participant remarked in an interview that the support she received at the Stade de France was encouraging.
The athlete said: “It was the perfect life. It was beautiful. I was welcomed by everybody… Outside, we know it’s not going to be the same… I hope this can be the start of a transformation for transgender people.”
Having already experienced abuse at home, Petrillo acknowledged that she expected some response when she came into the public eye, but she also implied that fear-mongering is the root cause of any transphobia in sports.
“People said (lots of) men would go to compete as women just so they could win, but that has not happened at all. It is just transphobia… And there has only been one (openly transgender) person that has participated at the Paralympics, me. So all of this fear that trans people will destroy the world (of women’s sport) actually does not exist,” Petrillo added.
For transgender athletes competing in elite women’s competitions, the governing organizations of some sports, such as swimming, cycling, and athletics, have tightened their guidelines. However, World Para Athletics lets a person who is legally recognized as a woman to compete in the category for which her impairment qualifies, while the IPC permits governing bodies to establish their own policies.
Source: CNA