After being sued by women’s Olympic boxing gold medalist Imane Khelif, Harry Potter’s “mother” is not giving up, but is relaunching and entering the Paris Paralympics with a bang. JK Rowling has openly criticized the participation of Valentina Petrillo, the Italian transgender Paralympic sprinter, on X.
After the athlete was eliminated on Monday night in the semi-final of the 400 meters in athletics category T12, with a visual impairment, Rowling tweeted with a certain irony: “Why all the anger for the inspiring Petrillo? The cheating community has never had this kind of visibility! Self-confessed and proud cheaters like Petrillo prove that their era is over. What a role model! I say we give the medals back to Lance Armstrong and move on.”
A few users timidly attempted to respond to Rowling by explaining that Petrillo was competing in Paris as a woman and “on her own merits.” But the writer and activist doubled down: “Being a man is an advantage in sports that require speed and strength. We both know you know this, but you choose to pretend otherwise. I am the daughter of a disabled mother. For me, this is not an abstract issue, it is a red line.”
Former Olympic champion Sharron Davies also hit out at it in a very harsh way: “So let’s disqualify Lance Armstrong for taking drugs, which would have given him a small but important advantage over his male opponents because he is cheating, but let’s let Valentina Petrillo, a 51-year-old male, have a huge advantage over female athletes with no problems! Why is this allowed?”.
In short, the controversy shows no sign of dying down, yet.
