Martina Navratilova slams "father-of-two" Valentina Petrillo's participation in Paralympics as a woman; criticizes "inclusive" policy

Martina Navratilova has voiced her objection to transgender athlete Valentina Petrillo's participation as a woman at the ongoing Summer Paralympics in Paris. The visually-impaired Petrillo made history on Monday, September 2, after qualifying for the T12 400-meter race semifinal.

Petrillo, diagnosed with Stargardt disease at the age of 14, began her gender transitioning process back in 2019. The Italian's outing at the 2020 Italian Para Athletics Championships marked the first time that a transgender athlete had been allowed to compete in the women's category in paralympic sports. The 51-year-old has fulfilled the lowered testosterone requirements of the World Para Athletics for transgender athletes.

However, Petrillo's history-making feat at the 2024 Summer Paralympics did not go down well with former WTA World No. 1 Martina Navratilova, who took to X (formerly Twitter) to share her opinion on the Italian's participation. Navratilova blatantly ridiculed the Paralympics' "inclusive" policy, calling it "actually regressive".

"This “inclusive” policy, in the name of being progressive, is actually regressive as the policy excludes women because BIOLOGY!" Navratilova wrote.

The 67-year-old also pointed out how transgender men don't compete against biological men due to the inherent physical differences between biological men and women.

"You won’t find women who identify as men taking places of Males because BIOLOGY. Males and females are different. Period," Navratilova added.

Navratilova's critique also featured a post shared by the founder and CEO of a female social network, which was critical of Petrillo's Paralympics participation as well. Before undergoing gender transitioning, Petrillo secured 11 national men's titles as a married father of two.

Martina Navratilova had opposed Imane Khelif's participation in women's boxing event at Paris Olympics 2024

Imane Khelif won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics (Source: Getty)

Boxer Imane Khelif sparked outrage after her bout against Italy's Angela Carini at the 2024 Paris Olympics culminated in the latter retiring after taking heavy blows from the Algerian. Carini later cried foul, suggesting that she had never been hit harder in her life. The Italian though, eventually backtracked on her suggestions.

Khelif found herself in eye of a storm as prominent names in sports and beyond questioned her gender. The Algerian would ultimately go on to clinch a historic gold medal in the women's 66kg category.

Navratilova was among those who bemoaned the International Olympics Committee (IOC) allowing Khelif to participate at the Games as a woman. After Khelif clinched Olympic gold, the former World No. 1 labeled the development as a "travesty".

"Thanks for nothing IOC [International Olympic Committee]. Shame on you. This is a travesty," Navratilova wrote on X.

The 18-time singles Major winner's stance on Khelif though, drew plenty of criticism from fans, many of who accused Navratilova of bullying the boxer.