Transgender visually impaired sprinter Valentina Petrillo stated that competitors in the Paralympic village in France did not make her feel unwelcome despite general hostility outside of the town.
The 51-year-old sprinter, who transitioned in 2019, competed at the recent Paralympic Games in Paris, where he qualified for the T12 200m and 400m semi-finals.
“This was the life I wanted; It was beautiful. Everybody wanted me in the village,” said Petrillo just before she packed and left the village for the last time. “Outside, we know it’s not going to be the same,” Petrillo remarked.
So basically, there has been only one trans person who has competed in the Paralympics, which is me, and this fear that trans people will distort the world of women’s sports does not exist.
“Some people stressed that many men would come to participate with women to win, but that has never happened in any way; it is just transphobia. ”
According to the IPC archives, Dutch Discus thrower Ingrid van Kranen was the first Transgender Paralympian who took part in the Rio Paralympics in 2016 but died In 2021.
However, it was quite a different case with Van Kranen, whose transfer to female was not a secret. In the last few years, especially regarding the participation of transgender athletes, utterance has been made. Ends for the participation of Transgender in elite Women’s Competitions have been made strict by the governing body of many sports such as athletics, cycling, swimming and other sports.
Nevertheless, the IPC enables governing bodies to decide on their politics. World Para Athletics lets an individual officially recognized as a woman participate in the category corresponding to the impairment that gives them the right to do this.
Some critics point out that transitioning through male puberty provides a gigantic musculoskeletal benefit that the athletes receive and that transition does not efface.
LGBTQ advocacy organizations claim that the exclusion of trans athletes is discriminatory and that insufficient research has been done to determine how transitioning affects athletic performance.
