| Textcolor: | blue |
| Valentina Petrillo | |
| Nationality: | Italian |
| Birth Date: | 2 September 1973 |
| Birth Place: | Napoli |
| Country: | Italy |
| Sport: | Paralympic athletics |
| Disability Class: | T12 |
| Event: | Sprint with sighted guide |
| Paralympics: | 2021 World Para Athletics European Championships |
Valentina Petrillo (born 2 October 1973) is an Italian Paralympic athlete competing in the 100, 200 and 400 m T12 class visually impaired sprint.[1] [2]
Petrillo is the first trans woman to take part in an international Paralympic Women's Championship, debuting at the Italian Paralympic Athletics Championships. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Born in Naples on October 2, 1973, Petrillo started practising athletics at a young age until a loss of sight at age 14, due to a diagnosis of Stargardt disease.
Soon after finishing studies in Bologna, she joined the Italy national futsal team for visually impaired.
At age 41, Petrillo was determined to get back into athletics, winning 11 national titles in the men's category.
In 2019 she started a gender transitioning process;[8] Petrillo competed for the first time in the women's category at the Italian Para Athletics Championships on September 11, 2020, marking the first time in paralympic sports that a transgender person has been allowed to do so.
Petrillo’s story is narrated in a documentary, named 5 nanomoles - the Olympic dream of a trans woman.
As of 2020, she competes officially in the women's category,and on April 25, 2021, set a new national record on the 400 meters T13 class, then improved in June of the same year.[9] [10]
On March 22, 2021, she set another new record, this time in 200 meters T12.[11]
Petrillo represented Italy at the 2021 World Para Athletics European Championships, ranking 5th.[12] [13]
Ancona, 22 March 2021) Piacenza, 20 June 2021)