Which Paralympic sports allow trans athletes to take part?

• Multiple trans athletes to compete in 2024 Paralympics
• Sprinter Valentina Petrillo criticised online
• Trans athletes already under-represented in Games

LONDON - Italian sprinter Valentina Petrillo will become one of the first openly transgender athletes to compete in the Paralympics as the 2024 Games kicked off in Paris this week.

The 50-year-old, who is visually impaired, will represent Italy in the women's 200 and 400 metre races. Her participation has captured global attention following intense debate over trans inclusion during the Olympic Games earlier this summer.

Although it was widely reported that Petrillo would be the first trans woman to compete in the Paralympics, Dutch discus thrower Ingrid van Kranen is believed have been the first after she came ninth in the 2016 Rio Games.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) allows each sporting body to set its own policies on who can participate in the Paralympics.

Here's everything you need to know.

Which Paralympic sports have policies for trans athletes?

Paralympic athletes undergo an evaluation ahead of the Games to assess how their disability affects their sporting ability.

Each sporting body is then responsible for the event's participation policies but, unlike in the Olympics, few Paralympic events have specific policies on the inclusion of trans athletes.

Some events, including archery and cycling, share the same governing body as the Olympics, and therefore the same rules.

World Archery says that trans women competing in both Games must demonstrate low levels of testosterone, and must not have competed in the male category of the sport at international level within the last four years.

In cycling, trans women are completely banned from competing in female categories if they underwent puberty before starting their transition.

Other sports can differ drastically between the Olympics and Paralympics. Both swimming and athletic events in the Paralympics allow anyone legally recognised as a woman to compete as female if they are eligible for their disability category.

In the Olympics, trans women who transitioned after puberty are banned from female categories in both sports.

Both the Paralympic sporting bodies for swimming and athletics also said they would refer to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) guidelines on trans athletes where necessary.

These guidelines are for where sports don't have their own policy, and emphasise that there should not be a presumption of advantage towards trans competitors and sporting bodies should consider "actual risk".

The International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA), which governs goalball, blind football and Para judo, told Context there was no blanket policy on trans athletes, although the subject has been raised.

Have trans Paralympians competed before?

After van Kranen in 2016, Ness Murby, a Canadian athlete who competes in the discus throw and javelin throw, came out as genderqueer and trans masculine in 2020, and is believed to be the first trans male Paralympian.

He previously took part in the female category of the Rio Games, and will compete in the men's discus division in Paris.

Australian wheelchair racer Robyn Lambird became the first non-binary athlete to win a Paralympic medal during the Tokyo Games when they came third in the women's 100m.

Maz Strong, also Australian, became the second non-binary medallist four days later, winning a bronze medal in the women's shotput. 

Non-binary athlete Laura Goodkind has also competed for the United States in two Paralympics in the women's rowing, and is now a wheelchair tennis and basketball player.

What's the current debate around trans athletes?

The topic of inclusion in international competitions typically centres around trans female athletes.

Those against their inclusion argue that people who have gone through male puberty have a natural advantage over their competitors due to the impact of testosterone on their bodies.

High levels of testosterone lead to men generally growing taller and stronger than women, although trans groups say that taking female hormones can even out any advantage this might bring in sport.

Critics of the discourse have also noted that trans women are already under-represented in elite-level sport, with the IOC stating that less than 0.001% of recent Olympians openly identify as trans or non-binary.

German runner Katrin Mueller-Rottgardt, who is also competing in the 200 metres in Paris, told the German newspaper Bild that Petrillo may have an advantage over other athletes because she had "lived and trained as a man for a long time".

But Petrillo previously told BBC Sport that her participation was an "important symbol of inclusion".

"I have been waiting for this day for three years and in these past three years I have done everything possible to earn it," she said.

(Reporting by Lucy Middleton; editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile.)