Transgender athlete Petrillo will not race for gold at 2024 Paralympic Games

Transgender athlete Valentina Petrillo will not race for gold on Tuesday after failing to progress through her T12 400m athletics semi-final on Monday at the Paralympic Games in Paris.

The visually-impaired Italian, who previously won 11 national titles in the men’s category, qualified for the semi-finals of the women’s T12 400m.

The 51-year-old, who transitioned in 2019, has caused a stir with their inclusion at the Games.

Former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies said on X that “we seriously are losing our minds over this nonsense” while former Grand Slam tennis star Martina Navratilova said the “inclusive policy…is actually regressive”. 

Petrillo, though, recently said: “I don’t want to hear anything more about discrimination, prejudices against transgender people.

“There are lots of people dying only for being trans, people are killed because they are trans, people commit suicide because they are trans and lose their jobs, or (they are) are not included in sport. But I made it. If I can make it, everyone can make it.”

But organisation Women in Sport point to their transgender inclusion in sport policy, which says: “Competing, fairly, matters deeply to women and girls and they deserve to be able to do so just as much as men and boys do.

“This means there needs to be a protected category for natal girls or women in competitive sport.

“This is not just about prize money or medals; it is about pride and joy; the fundamental principle that sport must be fair and safe for everyone.”

The T12 400m final takes place on Tuesday morning at the Stade de France in Paris.