Paralympics: Transgender sprinter set to draw attention

"I often say, if I've done it, others can too. I hope to be the first of many, a reference point, an inspiration. My story can help many people, whether visually impaired, transgender, or not," Valentina Petrillo told press agency AFP, as interest in her participation grows ahead of the Paralympics opening ceremony on August 28.

Petrillo will compete in the T12 event for visually impaired athletes. She publicly came out as transgender in 2017 having narrowly missed out on the 1996 Atalanta Paralympic team as a male, but was not recognised as a woman by Italian authorities until 2023. Petrillo, 50, won two bronze medals in the 200 meter and 400 meter events at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

Though Petrillo said she hopes to be "the first of many" transgender athletes competing at the games, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) say she will not be the first transgender Paralympian, as has been widely reported. A spokesperson for the organization told DW that Dutch discus thrower Ingrid van Kranen was the first, in Rio 2016.

Dutch discus thrower first trans Paralympian

Van Kranen came ninth in the discus final and made few waves internationally. In the intervening eight years, transgender issues have become a much more prominent point of discussion, often becoming a wedge issue in culture wars. Sport is often at the forefront of this.

The battle lines are well drawn but each case has its own nuances. For German para-athlete Katrin Müller-Rottgardt, who will run in the same category as Petrillo, the sporting stage poses difficulties that normal life does not.

"Everyone should live their everyday life the way they feel comfortable. But I find it difficult in competitive sports," she told German tabloid Bild.

"She (Petrillo) has lived and trained as a man for a long time, so there is a possibility that the physical requirements are different to those of someone who was born a woman. This could give her an advantage," the German athlete added.

The range of scientific and institutional views are fairly well-established but there is nothing like a consensus, with different sports and different governing bodies taking entirely different lines, even when dealing with the same athletes.

Imane Khelif caught in the middle

This became clear in the case of Olympic gold medal-winning boxer, Imane Khelif. After her Italian opponent walked away from Khelif's opening fight, her gender became one of the games' hot button topics. Khelif was incorrectly labelled transgender by media outlets and major public figures. Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting faced similar challenges.

The pair was initially banned from the 2023 championship, run by the  International Boxing Association. The organization was later stripped of its status as the sport's global governing body, which allowed the boxers to fight in Paris after all.

The inconsistencies apparent between sports and events means that Petrillo would not be able to compete in the women's athletics at the Olympics, but can at the Paralympics. World Athletics, the global governing body for track and field athletics, banned transgender athletes from competing in 2023. But World Para Athletics says any person who is legally recognised as a woman is eligible to compete in the category their impairment qualifies them for. The IPC told DW that, for now at least, they leave such decisions up to individual federations.

"The IPC in its role as a major event organizer does not have any relevant rules addressing transgender and intersex athlete participation, as this is the responsibility of each International Federation," the spokesperson said.

High-profile names in legal case

There is no doubt that Petrillo is playing by the rules as they stand. But that is unlikely to prevent her being in the center of a storm, as Khelif was before her.

"I know there will be people who don't understand why I'm doing this, but I'm here, I've fought for years to get where I am, and I'm not afraid. This is who I am," said the athlete.

But the abuse faced by athletes in such cases is serious. After returning home to Algeria, Khelif announced that she had filed a lawsuit, reportedly against social media platform X, over alleged cyberbullying.

Khelif's lawyer, Nabil Boudi, told the entertainment magazine Variety that the complaint names X owner Elon Musk and Harry Potter author JK Rowling. Boudi added that he would also be considering any role played by former US president and current Republican candidate, Donald Trump.

"Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution," the lawyer said.

While the Paralympics does not enjoy the same global profile as the Olympics, the eyes of the world will likely be on Petrillo when she takes to the track on September 3.

Edited by: Chuck Penfold