Tennis icon Martina Navratilova has called Valentina Petrillo a ‘pathetic cheater’ as the transgender athlete is set to make history at the Paralympics.
Petrillo, who transitioned from a male to a female in 2019, has been selected by Italy to compete in the Paralympics beginning next week.
The 50-year-old will compete in the T12 200m and 400m events having won bronze medals in both events at the World Para Athletics Championships last year.
Prior to transitioning, Petrillo won 11 national titles in the men’s category in three years.
Valentina Petrillo will be the first transgender athlete competing at the Paralympics
GETTY
The Italian sprinter was diagnosed with Stargardt disease at the age of 14, limiting her visual ability to 1/50th of the normal range.
Her inclusion as the first transgender athlete cleared to compete at the Paralympics has caused a stir with some of her rivals not happy.
Fellow T12 runner Katrin Mueller-Rottgardt feels Petrillo has an unfair ‘advantage’ over the rest of the female runners.
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The German said: “She 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.”
Petrillo has given several interviews ahead of the Paralympics where she’s spoken of her delight in making the Italian squad.
Reduxx magazine spoke with the transgender athlete where she said making the Paralympics was a ‘dream I had since I was a little girl’.
Valentina Petrillo’s inclusion has caused controversy
GETTY
The tweet read: “Becoming an Olympian is a ‘dream I had since I was a little girl’.
“Petrillo ‘transitioned’ in his forties after fathering his children. He was never a ‘little girl’.
“He is a man stealing the ‘little girl’ Olympic dreams of a woman.”
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Martina Navratilova is not happy about Valentina Petrillo racing in the women’s category
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Navratilova added her view, branding Petrillo a ‘pathetic cheater’.
Petrillo will make her Paralympics debut on September 2nd in the T12 400m heats before the final takes place a day later.
She will then have a few days rest before returning for the T12 200m heats on September 6 with the final 24 hours after.
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