'Harry Potter' author JK Rowling slams transgender runner who competed in Paralympic Games

"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling slammed transgender runner Valentina Petrillo as a "cheat" in a post on X after Petrillo failed to qualify for the women’s final in the Paralympic Games.

Petrillo finished in third place in women’s T12 400-meter sprint. 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’s eligibility on the women’s side of the Paralympics in Paris caused backlash in the weeks leading up to the Games. Petrillo faced backlash from Rowling on Monday.

"Why all the anger about the inspirational Petrillo? The cheat community has never had this kind of visibility!" Rowling wrote on X. "Out and proud cheats like Petrillo prove the era of cheat-shaming is over. What a role model! I say we give Lance Armstrong his medals back and move on."

When one X user pushed back on Rowling’s statement that Petrillo was cheating, the author responded.

"Stereotypes are simplistic/prejudiced blanket assumptions about a demographic that don't correlate with the facts," she wrote. "I know all trans people aren't cheats. However, knowing you have an unfair advantage and exploiting it anyway is pretty much the textbook definition of cheating."

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The Italian runner 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 was initially reported as the first transgender athlete to compete in the Paralympic Games, but the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) confirmed to the BBC that Dutch transgender athlete Ingrid van Kranen, who competed at the 2016 Games in Rio, was.

Petrillo could still win an Olympic medal in the women’s T12 200-meter. Round 1 begins Friday, and the final is slated for Saturday. 

Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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