Last Updated on 03/09/2024 by Arun jain
PARIS – Italian transgender athlete Valentina Petrillo failed to reach the final of the women’s T12 400 meters for visually impaired runners after finishing third in her semifinal at the Paralympic Games on Monday.
Petrillo, 50, ran a personal best of 57.58 seconds in the second semifinal but finished behind Iran’s Hajar Safrazadeh Gahderijani and Venezuela’s Alejandra Paola Perez Lopez, who both advanced to Tuesday’s final.
Petrillo had earlier run the fourth heat in 58.35 seconds in the first round, later qualifying for the semi-finals.
Petrillo was diagnosed with Stargardt disease when she was 14, a retinal disease that causes progressive loss of vision. As a result, Petrillo stopped running, although her dream of competing in the 200-meter gold-medal performance of Italian athlete Pietro Mania at the 1980 Olympics had continued.
Petrillo’s appearance came weeks after the Olympic boxing gold medalist Imane Khalif Algeria faced intense scrutiny following false claims about her sex. Her story became the biggest story of the Summer Games.
Petrillo, 50, began her transition in 2019 but has been participating in the para sport since she was 41. He won bronze medals in the 200 and 400 World Championship races in 2023 with times of 26.31 and 58.24 respectively.
Post An Italian transgender runner failed to reach the 400m final at the Paralympics appeared first NBC News.