Famed British novelist J.K. Rowling is joining Olympic athletes in blasting the Paralympic Games in Paris for allowing a male sprinter who identifies as a woman to compete against female runners.
Before beginning to identify as a female, Valentino Petrillo won 11 titles competing as a man. Since transitioning in 2019 at 46 years old, Petrillo has set a number or records against female athletes, BBC Sport reported.
Listen to them on the latest episode of “Quick Start” 👇
The now-51-year-old sprinter, who is visually impaired, secured a spot in the T12 400m event Monday, but missed out on the finale Tuesday after finishing in third place. Of his placement against the female runners, Petrillo — who identified as a “trans dad” — said, “I tried until the end, [but] I couldn’t do it,” according to The New York Times.
In a sarcastic response condemning Petrillo and the Paralympic Games, Rowling compared the transgender-identified runner to American cyclist Lance Armstrong, who was infamously forced to return his medals after it was discovered he was taking performance-enhancing drugs.
“Why all the anger about the inspirational Petrillo?” the “Harry Potter” author wrote. “The cheat community has never had this kind of visibility!”
Rowling continued, “Out and proud cheats like Petrillo prove the era of cheat-shaming is over. What a role model! I say we give Lance Armstrong his medals back and move on.”
Why all the anger about the inspirational Petrillo? The cheat community has never had this kind of visibility! Out and proud cheats like Petrillo prove the era of cheat-shaming is over. What a role model! I say we give Lance Armstrong his medals back and move on. #Cheats #NoShame pic.twitter.com/bvqhs3DexI
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 2, 2024
The U.K.-born author wasn’t the only one to call out Petrillo for competing as a woman.
Mara Yamauchi, a two-time Olympic marathon runner, said the male sprinter’s presence in the women’s competition “makes my blood boil.”
“A talented, hard-working, exceptional female athlete is out of the T12 400m [because] of a 50-year old father of two performing womanface on the world’s stage,” she wrote in a thread on X.
This makes my blood boil.
— Mara Yamauchi (@mara_yamauchi) September 2, 2024
A talented, hard-working, exceptional female athlete is out of the T12 400m bc of a 50-year old father of two performing womanface on the world’s stage.
This is at least the 2nd time Gomes has been robbed by Petrillo in a global championship. https://t.co/CkRBZYqpWz
British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies, MBE, reacted similarly to Rowling.
“So we ban Lance Armstrong for taking drugs, which will give him a small but important advantage over his male rivals, because it’s cheating, but we let 51-year-old male Valentina Petrillo have a huge advantage with no issue at all against female athletes!” she posted to X. “Why is this being allowed?”
In addition, the Women’s Rights Network, a U.K.-based group advocating for the protection of women’s rights, condemned Petrillo.
“This is unfair and indefensible and we OBJECT,” the organization said in a statement. “[P]etrillo has previously won medals running in men’s events. Now that he’s 50 and out of shape, he uses his male physiological advantage against female runners. A woman has already lost a deserved place at the Paralympics because of the ego and shamelessness of this man.”
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