While the Paralympics is known for its stories of inspiration and triumph over adversity, this year’s gathering of disabled athletes is also enduring a controversy similar to one that arose during the recently completed Paris Olympics.

A 50-year-old from Italy, Valentina Petrillo, is competing in the Paralympics based on being diagnosed as a teenager with Stargardt, a degenerative eye disease. She was born male and lived the majority of her life as a man, marrying and having a son. She also ran track in her 40s as a male, winning 11 national competitions, according to the Associated Press.

Ms. Petrillo became the first openly transgender runner in the Paralympics when she competed in the women’s 400m T12. She failed to reach the event’s finals after finishing third in the semifinals despite running a personal best of 57.58.

She qualified for the semifinal by running independently during her opening heat, while her two visually impaired opponents ran with guides to help them around the track. Ms. Petrillo is also entered in the women’s 200m T12 with qualifying heats beginning on Friday.

Not everyone is applauding.

Author J.K. Rowling emerged as a vocal critic of Ms. Petrillo competing against women, calling her a “cheat” and comparing her to a former top cyclist, Lance Armstrong, who admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs.

“The cheat community has never had this kind of visibility!” Ms. Rowling posted on X/Twitter. “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.”

Ms. Rowling isn’t the only one voicing criticism via social media, where there is ample discussion about genitalia. “He’s a man, we can LITERALLY see that he’s a man,” @LydiaTerf636 posted.

“He is taking the place of a woman with a disability,” @Phlebiteus tweeted. “He has already ‘had his time’ winning medals in the men’s category. What does he think he is achieving. Other than to highlight this ridiculous situation?”

After her race Monday, Ms. Petrillo fired back at those who question why someone living nearly all of her life as a male should be competing at the Paralympics against women. She says she began transitioning in 2019 and a year later raced for the first time against females. Before the Paralympics, Ms. Petrillo won a bronze in the 200 and 400 meters at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships.

“From today, I don’t want to hear anything more about discrimination, prejudices against transgender people,” Ms. Petrillo said this week, according to the Paralympics. She insists her reasons for competing go beyond her desires.

“There are lots of people dying only for being trans,” she said. “People are killed because they are trans. People commit suicide because they are trans and lose their jobs, or [they] are not included in sport. But I made it. If I can make it, everyone can make it.”

The World Para Olympics told the Associated Press that transgender athletes competing as women must provide evidence their testosterone levels have been below 10 nanomoles per liter of blood for at least 12 months before their first competition. According to the AP, normal testosterone levels in an adult male rise to about 30 nanomoles per liter compared to less than two for women. Any changes to the WPA rules will be considered after consultation with teams and athletes, according to the AP. 

The controversy surrounding Ms. Petrillo is reminiscent of the intense scrutiny Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei received for competing in women’s boxing at the recently concluded Olympic Games at Paris. But there’s a big difference. Although some media reports and tweets by Donald Trump called the boxers transgender, both were born female, raised as girls, and boxed as girls for several years.

The two boxers, who each won gold medals, were allowed to participate by the International Olympic Committee despite being disqualified at the 2023 World Championships for having high levels of testosterone.

Following the Olympics, Ms. Khelif filed a formal complaint with the Paris prosecutor’s office alleging she was a victim of online abuse. “The unfair harassment suffered by the boxing champion will remain the biggest stain of these Olympic Games,” her attorney, Nabil Boudi, said when the complaint was filed last month.

Ms. Petrillo is launching a different crusade for transgender women who were born as men and want to compete against women. That’s something celebrities like Ms. Rowling and Caitlyn Jenner, who won a gold medal in the decathlon as a male in the 1976 Olympics, are against. They have made their opposition to transgender athletes competing in women’s sports a political issue in the upcoming presidential election.

“No boys in girls sports,” Ms. Jenner posted.