"Don’t treat trans people badly, it’s not fair. We don’t hurt anybody" - Transgender sprinter Valentina Petrillo speaks after 400m loss at Paralympics

Valentina Petrillo scripted history at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, becoming the first transgender athlete to compete in the history of the Games. However, her participation became a controversial topic and after failing to qualify for the 400m finals, the Italian spoke to the press and asked people to not treat trans people badly.

Petrillo was assigned male at birth and started running in her childhood. However, she was diagnosed with Stargardt disease at the age of 14 forcing her to put a halt to her running. Petrillo went back to running at the age of 41, competing in the para-athletics in a male category where she won 11 national titles.

The Italian runner underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2019 and received hormone therapy and testosterone suppression in the coming months. Petrillo ran her first race as a female in 2020 when she won the gold in the 100m, 200m, and 400m T12 events at the Italian Paralympics Championship. Four years later, she made it to the Paralympics and became a semifinalist in the 400m.

Valentina Petrillo ran a personal best of 57.58s in the women's 400m T12 semifinal on Sep 2 but it was only enough for a third-place finish. While the Italian runner claimed that she was a little upset over her race, she hoped her son would be proud of her.

“But I hope my son is proud of me,” Petrillo began to cry. “That’s important to me because I’m a trans dad, it’s not everyone’s dream dad. But I hope he will be proud of me."

“I hope he will always stand by me, I hope that he loves me even if I am like this. I can’t help it if I’m like this, I’m sorry. Don’t treat trans people badly. We suffer. It’s not fair. We don’t hurt anybody," she said (via the New York Times)

Petrillo added that it was all beautiful inside the Paralympics but outside of it, it wasn't all purple, her favorite color.

“It’s all so beautiful (at the Paralympics). Afterwards how will it be out there? It’s not beautiful like this. It’s not all purple out there,” she added.

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Valentina Petrillo calls for an end to discrimination of transgender athletes

Para Athletics - Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games: Valentina Petrillo in action (Source: Getty)

The participation of transgender athletes in women's sports has been a controversial topic for a long time. Valentina Petrillo’s participation in the 2024 Paralympics also caused a public outcry but the Italian runner hopes for an end to the ‘discrimination’ they are facing.

She was quoted as saying (via the New York Times):

“It’s September 2, 2024 right? Let’s mark this down as a historic day. From this day forth I don’t want to hear any more talk about discrimination or prejudice for trans people."

“There are so many people who die for the mere fact of being trans people, who kill themselves for the mere fact of being trans because they lose their job because the sport doesn’t include them and now I’ve made it so we can all make it if I’ve made it, I’ve done my little bit and we can all make it," she added.

Petrillo primarily competes in the women's 200m and 400m T12 events, and after failing to qualify for the quarter-mile finals, she will be back in action in the 200m on September 6.