Visually impaired Italian sprinter, Valentina Petrillo, 50, who is set to become the first-ever transgender athlete to compete at the Paralympic Games, believes her participation is an ‘important symbol of inclusion’.
Petrillo, who transitioned in 2019, won bronze in the T12 200m and 400m at the 2023 World Para Athletics – and will compete in the T12 200m and 400m in Paris.
Speaking on her selection by the Italian team for the upcoming Paralympics, Petrillo – who will begin her campaign on Monday, September 2 – thanked organisers for her selection.
‘I have been waiting for this day for three years and in these past three years I have done everything possible to earn it,’ Petrillo said.
‘I deserve this selection and I want to thank the Italian Paralympic Federation and the Italian Paralympic Committee for having always believed in me, above all as a person as well as an athlete.
‘The historic value of being the first transgender woman to compete at the Paralympics is an important symbol of inclusion.’
The athlete was born with Stargardt disease – a degenerative eye condition where tissue develops on the small part of a person’s retina that is used for sharp vision.