First transgender Paralympian, 50, breaks silence on criticism of her competing at Paris 2024 - as she claims she will be a 'role model' at the Games despite debate over participation

The first transgender Paralympian has issued a defiant statement about inclusion and being a 'role model' ahead of competing at Paris 2024. 

Visually impaired athlete Valentina Petrillo will represent Italy in the women's T12 200m and 400m sprints,having claimed bronze at the World Para Athletics Championships in 2023.

Petrillo was born male with the name Fabrizio and transitioned in 2019 after undergoing hormone therapy. The 50-year-old was also born with Stargardt disease,a degenerative eye condition that has no cure.

Rival German Paralympian Katrin Mueller-Rottgardt fears Petrillo has an 'advantage' in the 200m while one Spanish lawyer called the Italian's qualification 'unfair'. 

Despite the controversy,Petrillo is upbeat for the impending Games and wants to use them as an opportunity to teach people about inclusivity.

Sebastian Coe has vowed to 'protect the women's category amid his push to be IOC president

Common symptoms include a gradual loss of eye sight and the illness is believed to be caused by changes in a person's genes. There is no known cure for the illness.

Thanking organisers for being selected,Petrillo told BBC Sport: 'I have been waiting for this day for three years and in these past three years I have done everything possible to earn it.

'I deserve this selection and I want to thank the Italian Paralympic Federation and the Italian Paralympic Committee for having always believed in me,above all as a person as well as an athlete.

'The historic value of being the first transgender woman to compete at the Paralympics is an important symbol of inclusion.'

Petrillo's wife has remained supportive after finding out in 2017 that the Italian was transgender and would later start hormone treatment. They remain married and have two children.

The sprinter said: 'I hadn't planned it. I was in bed with my wife,about to fall asleep,and I said: 'Remember I told you once I dressed up as a woman?' She said: ' In reality,it wasn't once,I do it every day.''

Petrillo went on to compete as a transgender athlete at the Italian Paralympics Championship in September 2020 and there won gold in the T12 100m,200m and 400m events.

When Petrillo won bronze at last year's World Para Athletics Championships,a former Canadian Olympic head coach called it 'shocking'. British marathon runner Mara Yamauchi said to The Telegraph: 'How many 49-year-olds would win medals at world level?'

Imane KhelifItalyLin Yu-ting