Valentina Petrillo
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Nationality | Italian | ||||||||||||||
Born | (1973-10-02) 2 October 1973 (age 50) Napoli | ||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||
Country | Italy | ||||||||||||||
Sport | Paralympic athletics | ||||||||||||||
Disability class | T12 | ||||||||||||||
Event | Sprint with sighted guide | ||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
Paralympic finals | 2021 World Para Athletics European Championships | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Valentina Petrillo (born 2 October 1973)[1] is an Italian Paralympic athlete who competes in the women’s 100, 200 and 400 metre T12 class visually impaired sprint.[2][3][4]
Petrillo has been the first trans woman to take part in an international Paralympic Women's Championship, debuting at the Italian Paralympic Athletics Championships [it], a milestone for transgender people in sports.[3][2][5][6][7][8]
Biography
Born in Naples on 2 October 1973, Petrillo started practising athletics at a young age until a loss of sight at age 14, due to a diagnosis of Stargardt disease.[3]
Soon after finishing studies in Bologna, she joined the Italy national futsal team for visually impaired.[3]
At age 41, Petrillo was determined to get back into athletics, winning 11 national titles in the men's category.[3][2]
In 2019 she started a gender transitioning process;[2][9] Petrillo competed for the first time in the women's category at the Italian Para Athletics Championships [it] on 11 September 2020, marking the first time in paralympic sports that a transgender person has been allowed to do so.[3][2][5][6][7][8][9] Petrillo has noted she has lost strength since starting feminizing hormone replacement therapy which is intended to suppress testosterone and raise estrogen levels in the body.[3] Petrillo has met the World Para Athletics requirements for lowered testosterone levels for transgender women athletes which are tested for at least 12 months prior to the competition.[10]
Petrillo’s story will be narrated through a movie, currently in development, named 5 nanomoli-Il sogno olimpico di una donna trans.[3][8]
Athletics career
In 2020, she started officially competing in the women's category,[3][2][5][6][7][9] and on 25 April 2021, set a new national record on the 400 meters T13 class, then improved in June of the same year.[9][11][12]
On 22 March 2021, she set another new record, this time in 200 meters T12.[13]
Petrillo represented Italy at the 2021 World Para Athletics European Championships, ranking 5th.[11][14][15]
In March 2023, Petrillo withdrew from competing in the World Masters Indoor Athletic Championships on account of anti-trans threats and concerns for her safety.[16]
On 2 September 2024, Petrillo debuted at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, qualifying for the semi-finals of the T12 women's 400 metres.[17] She achieved a personal best time of 57.58 seconds in the second semi-final, but failed to reach the final of the event.[18]
National records
- Seniores
- 200 meters plain T12: 27"17 (
Ancona, 22 March 2021)[13]
- 400 meters plain indoor T13: 59"77 (
Piacenza, 20 June 2021)[12]
References
- ^ "Valentina PETRILLO". World Athletics. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "Paralimpici: Valentina Petrillo, è lei la prima transgender ammessa a gara ufficiale tra le donne" [Paralympics: Valentina Petrillo, she is the first transgender admitted to an official competition among women]. La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 9 September 2021. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Mitzman, Dany (4 June 2021). "Valentina Petrillo: 'Better to be a slow happy woman than a fast unhappy man'". BBC News. Bologna. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Valentina Petrillo". Italian Athletics Federation (in Italian). Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ a b c "Valentina Petrillo, la prima atleta transgender a gareggiare tra le donne: "Mi accusano di non essere un buon padre"" [Valentina Petrillo is the first transgender athlete to compete among women]. TgCom24 (in Italian). 4 June 2021. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ a b c "Petrillo, in corsa per Tokyo: "Gareggio con le donne. Trans, del resto, significa 'oltre'"" [Petrillo, running for Tokyo: "I'm racing with women. Trans, after all, means 'beyond'"]. La Repubblica (in Italian). 17 May 2021. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ a b c Facchini, Beppe, ed. (8 October 2020). "Valentina Petrillo, la prima atleta paralimpica transgender in corsa per Tokyo 2021" [Valentina Petrillo, the first transgender Paralympic athlete in the race for Tokyo 2021]. fanpage.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ a b c "La storia di Valentina Petrillo diventerà presto un film" [Valentina Petrillo's story will soon become a film]. Unione Italiana Sport Per tutti (in Italian). 8 September 2020. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Atletica paralimpica: Valentina Petrillo record italiano nei 400" [Paralympic athletics: Valentina Petrillo Italian record in the 400]. Federazione Italiana Sport Paralimpici e Sperimentali (in Italian). 28 April 2021. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ Matar, Daniella (24 August 2024). "An Italian sprinter will be the first transgender woman to compete at the Paralympics". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024 – via PBS News.
- ^ a b "Atletica paralimpica, Assoluti di Concesio: sfida Caironi-Sabatini-Contrafatto nei 100, Legnante al rientro in gara" [Paralympic Athletics, Concesio Absolutes: Caironi-Sabatini-Contrafatto challenge in the 100, Legnante back in competition]. Federazione Italiana Sport Paralimpici e Sperimentali (in Italian). 2 July 2021. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Atletica paralimpica: ancora record italiano per Petrillo nei 400 e Tonetto nel disco" [Paralympic Athletics: Another Italian Record for Petrillo in the 400 and Tonetto in the Discus]. Federazione Italiana Sport Paralimpici e Sperimentali (in Italian). 21 June 2021. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Atletica paralimpica: Valentina Petrillo record italiano indoor nei 200 ad Ancona" [Paralympic athletics: Valentina Petrillo Italian indoor record in the 200 in Ancona]. Federazione Italiana Sport Paralimpici e Sperimentali (in Italian). 22 March 2021. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
- ^ "Great Britain and Italy announce squads for Bydgoszcz 2021". paralympic.org. 30 April 2021. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Bydgoszcz 2021 - Results". paralympic.org. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ Webb, Karleigh (14 August 2024). "Valentina Petrillo will be first out transgender athlete at Paralympics, a trans woman in para track and field". Outsports. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
She met the next obstacle in her path in March 2023. Petrillo withdrew from the World Masters Indoor Athletic Championships in Poland due to anti-trans threats and concerns for her safety. A few days later, the ban on transgender women by World Athletics went into effect and worries grew that World Para Athletics would follow suit.
- ^ MacInnes, Paul (3 September 2024). "Transgender sprinter Valentina Petrillo fails to reach 400m final on Paralympic debut". The Guardian. Stade de France. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ "Italian transgender runner fails to reach 400m final at Paralympics". The Associated Press. 3 September 2024. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024 – via NBC News.