Valentina Petrillo, a 50-year-old transgender woman, is set to make history as the first transgender competitor in the Paralympics. Due to compete in the T12 classification for visually impaired athletes, Petrillo will run the 200 and 400 meters in Paris in two weeks. Diagnosed with the degenerative eye condition Stargardt disease at 14, Petrillo spent most of her life as a man before beginning her transition in 2019; she has since raced in the female category.
Petrillo acknowledges the controversy around her participation, with some competitors alleging she has an unfair advantage due to her previous male physiology. Spanish athlete Melani Berges described it as an "injustice" after narrowly missing Paralympic qualification because of Petrillo. Despite this, Petrillo argued that her hormone treatment results in physical disadvantages, a claim supported by an IOC-funded study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that pointed to areas like lung function and lower body strength.
While World Athletics has banned transgender women who transitioned after puberty from competing in female categories, World Para Athletics has not. They require trans athletes to declare their gender identity and submit evidence of maintaining specific testosterone levels. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
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