"Our son calls me daddy" - Transgender athlete VALENTINA PETRILLO shares PHOTOs of himself before he transitioned

Sunday, September 8, 2024 - Transgender athlete, Valentina Petrillo has shared photos from before she transitioned as she geared up to compete in the Paralympics on Friday night.

The pictures show Valentina Petrillo, then called Fabrizio, with a receding hairline and a tight smile posing for the camera.

Petrillo sparked fury when her qualification for the Paralympics was revealed, after running as a man until seven years ago.

"'I'm not bothered what JK Rowling or anyone else says, I'm just here for myself and my family. There's a lot of transphobia out there and I'm here only to compete and ignoring that outside noise,' the sprinter said.

The visually impaired runner, 51, also shared her wedding photo with now ex-wife Elena.

Petrillo married Elena in 2016, before coming out as transgender the following year and starting to transition in 2019. The couple, who share a nine-year-old son called Lorenzo, have since gotten divorced.

During their marriage, Elena supported Petrillo with her transition according to the athlete.

'We would go out shopping together for women's clothes and she would put my makeup on, in the end we divorced but we still live together in Bologna, we are still a family and Lorenzo calls me daddy,' Petrillo told MailOnline.

'We met almost 20 years ago in McDonald's after I had moved to Bologna and it was love at first sight for both of us and our story was complete with the birth of our son and our marriage in 2016.

'But I knew I was still fighting what was inside me and when Elena would go out I would wear her clothes, I would put on her nail varnish and her lipstick and makeup, she had no idea.

'In the end when I told her, she thought it was a phase at first, she thought it was something I would grow out of and that had started with the death of my mother but eventually she realised it wasn't.

'We would go out shopping together for women's clothes and she would put my make up on, in the end we divorced but we still live together in Bologna, we are still a family and Lorenzo calls me daddy.

'Elena and I love each other but it's a different love, we know that we can't have a physical relationship and she has a partner but we are together for Lorenzo and they are my two biggest loves.'

'For me to be in Paris, the culmination of a dream I've had ever since I was a child and to have my ex-wife and son with me here is fantastic. I want to make them so proud, especially little Lorenzo.

'When I was growing up it was in a tough neighbourhood, there was crime and drugs, and I had to run home just to be safe and that's what got me interested in athletics but inside I knew I felt different to other boys.

'My best friend Desiree was a girl, and we played together all the time, I would be the girl, and she would be the boy but she grew out of it as she got older and became a woman and we lost touch but I always felt happier as a woman.