J.K. Rowling and female ex-athletes are among those criticizing the inclusion of transgender Italian sprinter Valentina Petrillo in the Paris Paralympics.
Rowling, the Harry Potter author, described Petrillo as a “cheat” after she qualified for the women’s T12 400m semi-finals on Monday. Petrillo will feature in the semi-finals this evening.
Petrillo, 51, competed as a male athlete until the age of 45, winning national titles in men’s track and field. The visually-impaired sprinter had two children before identifying as a woman.
Petrillo is allowed to compete in the women’s T12 field because World Para Athletics allows those legally recognized as a woman to take part. To qualify, athletes must provide evidence that their testosterone level in serum has been below 10 nmol/L for a year.
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Rowling, a vocal and prominent critic of transgender rights, joked on X/Twitter that Petrillo’s inclusion means that drugs cheat Lance Armstrong should be entitled to his cycling medals.
Rowling’s intervention follows her anger over the inclusion of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Khelif is not transgender, but was allowed to compete despite being disqualified from last year’s Women’s World Championships because of testing that showed she had “male karyotype” chromosomes. Khelif went on to win gold in Paris.
Martina Navratilova, the highly decorated women’s tennis player who is currently covering the US Open for Sky Sports, also bemoaned Petrillo’s involvement.
She said: “This ‘inclusive’ policy, in the name of being progressive, is actually regressive as the policy excludes women because BIOLOGY! You won’t find women who identify as men taking places of Males because BIOLOGY. Males and females are different. Period.”
Sharron Davies, a former Team GB swimmer and BBC presenter, said Petrillo’s involvement in the Paralympics was “nonsense.” She added: “These organisations need to grow a backbone & do what everyone can see is right rather than what’s easy. Stand up for fairness, the science & simple common sense.”
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has been contacted for comment. IPC president Andrew Parsons told the BBC that trans athletes were “welcome” at the Games.
Petrillo is not the first transgender athlete to compete in the Paralympics. Dutch athlete Ingrid van Kranen participated in the women’s discus at the Rio 2016 Games.
Following the T12 400m qualifier, Petrillo said: “From today, 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 not included in sport. But I made it. If I can make it, everyone can make it.”