Paris 2024 Paralympics: Valentina Petrillo, who became first transgender to compete at Games, fails to reach 400m final

The 50-year-old Petrillo ran a personal best 57.58 seconds in the second semifinal but finished behind Iran’s Hajar Safarzadeh Ghahderijani and Venezuela’s Alejandra Paola Perez Lopez, who both advanced to Tuesday’s final.

PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 02: Valentina Petrillo of Team Italy competes during the Women's 400m - T12 Semi-Finals on day five of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games at Stade de France on September 02, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Italian transgender athlete Valentina Petrillo failed to reach the final of the women’s T12 400m for visually impaired runners after finishing third in her semifinal at the Paralympic Games on Monday.

The 50-year-old Petrillo ran a personal best 57.58 seconds in the second semifinal but finished behind Iran’s Hajar Safarzadeh Ghahderijani and Venezuela’s Alejandra Paola Perez Lopez, who both advanced to Tuesday’s final.

Petrillo earlier ran the fourth heat in the first round in 58.35 seconds, qualifying for the later semifinal.

Petrillo was diagnosed with Stargardt disease when she was 14, a retinal disease that causes a progressive loss of vision. Petrillo stopped running as a result, though her dream to compete was sparked by Italian athlete Pietro Mennea’s 200m gold-medal performance in the 1980 Olympics.

The 50-year-old Petrillo began her transition in 2019 but has been competing in para sport since she was 41. She collected bronze medals in the 200m and 400m world championship races in 2023 with times of 26.31s and 58.24s, respectively.