Valentina Petrilla, the Italian father of two, qualified for the semi-final of the women’s sprinting at the Paris Paralympics.

The 51-year-old runner has caused a mass controversy after competing until the age of 45 identifying as a man.

The controversy came heavy after Petrilla won the 400 metres for visually-impaired female athletes.

The “Harry Potter” author known for her controversial viewpoints, J. K. Rowling, shared her opinions on the matter.

Sarcastically, she started with: “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.”

Petrillo, as a self-declared “trans dad”, hit back at the statements and shared her disappointment.

“I’m flattered that Rowling is talking about me – I’ve never even read Harry Potter.”

“I’m told she wrote it but I didn’t read it.”

“By the way, I was told that she in her own book wrote about a sport where there is no gender. So I was expecting different behaviour from Rowling.”

In terms of the 200-metre sprint, Petrillo came in third place in the semi-finals to German Katrin Mueller-Rottgart, who believed the Italian’s involvement made her races “difficult”.

“She lived and trained for a man for a long time. The physical requirements are different to those of someone who was born a woman. This could give an advantage.”

However, Petrillo pointed out that the Olympics are a place for inclusion, and everyone should feel welcome.

“There is so much transphobia in all this.”

“The most important word in Olympic and Paralympic sports is inclusion.”

“We have to find solutions to include everyone, because everyone needs to feel joy in sports, so that’s why we are here. I think that if we want to, we can find a solution.”

“I would like to live in the Paralympic Village all my life because, honestly, I feel protected here.”

Yet, others feel like this comes at the expense of women.

Fiona McAnena, the director of campaigns at Sex Matters shared that: “It’s clear that for Petrillo, sport is extremely validating.”

“That’s true for anyone who gets to compete at the Paralympics.”

“Only a few athletes ever will, so allowing places in women’s sport to be taken by men is not progressive or inclusive.”

“People like Petrillo are welcome in sport, but in the right sex category – and not at the expense of women.”

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Source: New York Post