Valentina Petrillo was born in Naples, Italy, on 2 October 1973. She started practising athletics at a young age until a loss of sight at age 14, due to Stargardt disease.[3] Soon after finishing studies in Bologna, Petrillo joined the Italy national five-a-side football team for the visually impaired.[3]
In 2014, Petrillo was determined to get back into athletics, winning 11 national titles in the men's category.[3][2]
Petrillo's story will be narrated through a movie, currently in development, named 5 nanomoli-Il sogno olimpico di una donna trans.[3][8]
Athletics career
In 2020, she started officially competing in the women's category,[3][2][5][6][7][9]
and on 25 April 2021, set a new national record on the 400 meters T13 class, then improved in June of the same year.[9][11][12]
In March 2023, Petrillo withdrew from competing in the World Masters Indoor Athletic Championships on account of anti-trans threats and concerns for her safety.[16]
On 2 September 2024, Petrillo debuted at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, qualifying for the semi-finals of the T12 women's 400 metres.[17] She achieved a personal best time of 57.58 seconds in the second semi-final, but failed to reach the final of the event.[18] Petrillo also qualified for the semi-finals of the T12 women's 200 metres on 6 September. She finished ninth with a season's-best time of 25.92 seconds, but failed to advance to the final.[19]
Personal life
Petrillo was previously married to a woman. They share two children, a son and a daughter.[20][21]
National records
Seniores
200 meters plain T12: 27"17 (Ancona, 22 March 2021)[13]
400 meters plain indoor T13: 59"77 (Piacenza, 20 June 2021)[12]
^Webb, Karleigh (14 August 2024). "Valentina Petrillo will be first out transgender athlete at Paralympics, a trans woman in para track and field". Outsports. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024. She met the next obstacle in her path in March 2023. Petrillo withdrew from the World Masters Indoor Athletic Championships in Poland due to anti-trans threats and concerns for her safety. A few days later, the ban on transgender women by World Athletics went into effect and worries grew that World Para Athletics would follow suit.
