Transgender athlete Valentina Petrillo was a part of the 400m T12 event of the Paris Paralympics but couldn’t make it to the finals. The 51-year-old Italian chemist, who is a blind sprinter, placed 3rd in the semi-finals. No wonder, she achieved her record of 57.58 seconds, but the last ticket to the final went to Hajar Safarzadeh Ghahderijani from Iran and Alejandra Paola Perez Lopez from Venezuela.
Performance Of Valentina Petrillo In Women’s T12 Classification
Petrillo recorded a clocking of 58.35 seconds which placed her second in the second round of 60 meters behind Perez Lopez of Venezuela by 1.38 seconds. This time, however, served to qualify her to the semi-finals, she managed to get a better time of 57.58 seconds, but there were not two places to advance to the final. Omara Durand and Perez Lopez finished the semi-final over Petrillo despite the latter throwing the ball to the finishing line in 57.23 seconds.
Petrillo was the 6th fastest runner to qualify for the event, being 2.99 seconds behind top qualifier and world record holder Omara Durand of Cuba. The finals of T12 400m were held on Tuesday at 11:14 BST. Friday cannot be much longer as Petrillo also wants to perform at the T12 200m race.
The Benefits of Inclusion: A View of Valentina Petrillo
Before the Games, Petrillo, who transitioned in 2019, it meant to her that she was going to the Paralympics – “it is an important symbol of inclusion.” She wanted to fight stereotypes and seek that people accept. After her race, she enjoyed recalling how fulfilling it was to be at the stadium, The words ‘From now. I do not want to hear anything again, discrimination, discrimination towards transgender people, stereotypes anymore’ made me feel like sharing.
Struggles and Other Supporting Views on the Controversy of Transgender Sports Participation
Today, the topic of the participation of ‘transgender’ in sports is very hot and more often causes fierce discussions. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) provides the autonomy of the policies to operating bodies.
Petrillo was the first transgender Paralympic athlete and in a subsequent report, the Paralympic Committee said “no” to that. However, the IPC retracted this claim saying that Dutch transgender athlete Ingrid van Kranen already participated in the women’s discus event at the Rio Games in 2016 finishing ninth.
Mariuccia Quilleri, a lawyer and athlete, argued that the presence of right-swinging slow giant дед самой лучшей, David Sacchi in women’s races is a matter of fairness too, at least there is not much more that can be done. At the same time, Oksaa Boturchuk Tokyo 2020 silver medalist d the Committe any concerns about their unfair playing advantage have also surfaced.
Calls for New Policies and Categories
However, amid these debates, some of the proponents for transgender athletes support the introduction of a new category. Johan Marin general secretary of the Venezuelan Paralympic Committee emerged with the idea of governing the open category and that’s the ‘most fair and logical’ position. While several spokespeople of the VPC stated disapproval of any kind of discrimination and inequality, they expressed their awareness of the fact, that the system as it is now does not provide equal opportunities for all athletes.
Who is Valentina Petrillo?
Valentina Petrillo is the only one in the Athletics Federation who specialized in –410/12/25 VI 11 Russian world among male compatriots from 2015 up to 2018. She started making a transition in 2018 with her wife supporting her and started hormone replacement therapy in January 2019. Petrillo, however, has added that her metabolism and energy level changed while racing, and therefore her time performance became poorer than before. Still, she understands that no altis becomes the last one and has a goal of fighting at the highest level of competition.
On more than one occasion in 2021, more than 30 female athletes issued a declaration noting that they oppose Petrillo competing in women’s races. However, she has kept on competing and has been so successful that last year she earned two bronze medals at the World Para Athletics Championships.
Diverging Policies: World Athletics vs World Para Athletics
Some policies of World Athletics and World Para Athletics regarding transgender athletes differ noteworthily. World Athletics understands the need to protect the integrity of women’s events by prohibiting transgender women from competing in any female categories at the international level. In this, however, World Para Athletics does not restrict athletes who legally qualify and identify as women from participating in classes that correspond with their disability.
These present recurrent issues and the contrasting nature of opinions of those within the sporting community. As this argument proceeds it is becoming apparent that there is more and more grounding for a rational solution that incorporates all the currents and provides an equitable rationale for all the contestants.
