JK Rowling calls Paralympic sprinter Valentina Petrillo a ‘fraud’

JK Rowling is one of many voices, including former Olympic athletes, opposing the participation of a transgender sprinter in the women’s sprint category at the Paralympic Games in Paris.

Petrillo Valentino Petrillo, 51, will represent Italy in the women’s T12 400m category after qualifying for the semi-finals on Monday. The semi-finals will take place later on Monday, followed by the finals on Tuesday.

Petrillo, who is partially sighted, also competes in the women’s T12 200M category.

According to the BBC, Petrillo won 11 national titles in the T12 category for visually impaired athletes between 2015 and 2018.

Petrillo has been competing as a woman since her medical transition in 2019 at the age of 46. Within two years of her transition, the sprinter had set records in the women’s 200m flat T12 and 400m flat indoor T13 categories.

In a tweet, Rowling described the athlete as a “cheater”, and sarcastically wrote on X: “Why all the anger over the inspirational Petrillo? The cheating community has never had more visibility! Open and proud cheaters like Petrillo prove that the era of cheat-shaming is over. What a role model! I say we give Lance Armstrong his medals back and move on.”

Mara Yamauchi, a two-time Olympic marathoner, was among those who also criticized Petrillo’s participation in the women’s categories. “This makes my blood boil,” she tweeted as part of a lengthy thread. “A talented, hardworking, exceptional female athlete is out of the T12 400m for the birth of a 50-year-old father of two who is performing woman’s face on the world stage.”

Former tennis champion Martina Navratilova, who is currently commentating on the US Open for Sky Sports, retweeted Yamauchi’s comments, adding: “Amen to this thread! And stop saying it’s the democrats who did this. It’s men who do this – men in positions of power like the IOC who make the rules and men who know they have an advantage but still compete with women(.)”

Petrillo previously told the BBC that the inclusion of a trans athlete was an “important symbol of inclusion”.

At last month’s Olympics, JK Rowling was among those who criticized the inclusion of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif in the women’s boxing category. Khelif is not transgender, but reportedly has a non-transgender gender and had previously failed a gender test for the sport.

Khelif, who won Olympic gold in this category, has since filed a criminal complaint with French authorities for alleged “acts of serious cyberbullying”, naming Rowling and X owner Elon Musk.