Petrillo biography

Italian Paralympic athlete (born 1973)

Valentina Petrillo (Italian:[valenˈtinapeˈtrilːo]; born 2 October 1973)^[1] is an Italian Paralympic athlete who competes in the women's 100, 200 and 400 metre T12 class visually impairedsprint.^[2][3][4]

Petrillo has been the first trans woman to take part in an international Paralympic Women's Championship, debuting at the Italian Paralympic Athletics Championships [it], a milestone for transgender people in sports.^{[3][2][5][6][7][8]}

Biography

Valentina Petrillo was born in Naples, Italy, on 2 October 1973.

She started practising athletics at a young age until a loss of sight at age 14, due to Stargardt disease.^[3] Soon after finishing studies in Bologna, Petrillo joined the Italy national five-a-side football team for the visually impaired.^[3]

In 2014, Petrillo was det