Meet Valentina Petrillo: The Italian sprinter set to become the first Paralympic transgender athlete
Despite facing controversy and claims of unfair advantage, Petrillo is set to compete in the T12 classification for visually impaired athletes in Paris.
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00:00In January 2019 I started the transition path and in 2020 I realized my dream, which was
00:29to compete in the women's category, to do the sport that I have always loved to do because
00:39I fell in love with athletics when I was seven years old, seeing my myth Pietro Menea
00:44win the 1980 Moscow Olympics, there I fell in love with this sport, I said to myself
00:50I want to be like him, I want to wear that blue shirt, I want to participate in the Olympics,
00:58but I wanted to do it as a woman because I, as a man, did not feel like myself.
01:05There are very clear and precise regulations, I respect these regulations, among other things I am
01:17legally a woman, that is, my document cites that I am of female sex with a regular
01:23birth certificate, unfortunately we still live in situations where transgender people
01:30are marginalized, who will never be able to change a document as I did, who will never
01:35be able to have what they deserve, the respect they deserve and that from my story
01:42you can draw inspiration and strength to believe that there is a different tomorrow.