Valentina Petrillo, a transgender Paralympian sprinter from Italy, clapped back at author JK Rowling for calling her an “out and proud cheat.”
“JK Rowling is only concerned about the fact that I use the female toilet, but she doesn’t know anything about me,” Petrillo told The Times, a U.K.-based newspaper.
“There has only been one [openly transgender] person that has participated at the Paralympics, me. So all of this fear that trans people will destroy the world [of women’s sport] actually does not exist,” Petrillo later said. “People said [a lot of] men would go to compete as women just so they could win, but that has not happened at all. It is just transphobia.”
The “Harry Potter” author criticized Petrillo after she became the first openly transgender person to compete in the Paralympics in Paris last week, reaching the semi-finals of the T12 200m and 400m for visually impaired athletes.
The 51-year-old athlete, who transitioned in 2019, said she was welcomed by athletes in the Olympic Village despite outcry from Rowling and others for her participation.
“It was the perfect life. It was beautiful. I was welcomed by everybody,” Petrillo said of the Olympic Village. “Outside, we know it’s not going to be the same. I hope this can be the start of a transformation for transgender people.”
Petrillo adhered to the World Para Athletics rules, which comply with International Olympic Committee guidelines. It permits transgender athletes to compete as long as they are legally recognized as women.
Rowling has not shied away from controversy involving the 2024 Olympic games. Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer and Olympic gold medalist whose gender identity was questioned at this year’s Olympic Games, is suing Rowling and other influential figures alleging “acts of aggravated cyber harassment.”