TRANSGENDER athlete Valentina Petrillo has shared photos of before her transition as she prepares to compete in the Paralympics tonight.
The Italian, 51 – who competed as man until seven years ago – has also revealed her ex-wife gave her make-up tips.
The snaps show visually impaired Petrillo, then called Fabrizio, with a receding hairline in a far cry from her long blonde locks she now sports.
The athlete sparked fury in her native country, as well as from the likes of Harry Potter writer JK Rowling, who labelled her an “out and proud cheat”.
The defiant sprinter said: “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.”
Petrillo – who is taking part in the 200m semi-final on Friday evening – also shared her wedding photo with now ex-wife Elena from 2016.
She came out as transgender the following year and then started transitioning in 2019.
The couple share nine-year-old son Lorenzo.
Petrillo told the MailOnline: “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.”
The athlete revealed she first met Elena at a McDonald’s 20 years ago, adding: “It was love at first sight for both of us.”
She continued: “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.”
Petrillo said when she first told Elena her ex-wife thought it was “a phase at first” brought on by the death of her mother – but eventually realised it wasn’t.