Italian sprinter Valentina Petrillo, who became the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the Paralympic Games, will not race for a medal in the women’s T12 400-meter sprint after a third place finish in Monday’s semifinal.
The 50-year-old athlete, who began transitioning in 2019, qualified for the semifinal with a time of 58.35 in the first round heat.
Petrillo finished second in the heat without a guide.
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Petrillo would advance to the semifinal, finishing with a personal best of 57.58. But it wasn’t enough to qualify for Tuesday’s final. The Italian finished third behind Hajar Safarzadeh Ghahderijani of Iran and Alejandra Paola Perez Lopez of Venezuela.
Petrillo was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition known as Stargardt disease as a teenager. While competing as a male, Petrillo won 11 national titles in the men’s T12 category between 2015 and 2018 before eventually transitioning.
"I began transitioning in 2019 and in 2020 I realized my dream, which was to race in the female category, to do the sport that I had always loved doing," Petrillo told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "I got to 50 before it came true … we all have the right to a second choice of life, a second chance."
While World Athletics banned trans athletes from competing in women’s events if they transitioned after puberty last year, World Para Athletics still allows transgender athletes to participate as long as they declare that their gender identity for sporting purposes is female and provide evidence that their testosterone levels have been below 10 nanomoles per liter of blood for at least 12 months prior to their first competition.
Petrillo could still win and Olympic medal in the women’s T12 200-meter. Round 1 begins Friday and the final is slated for Saturday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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