Oliver Brown

“This was a dream,” says Valentina Petrillo, who today becomes a Paralympic sprinter at the age of 51, “that I had since I was a little girl.” Except

Valentina Petrillo has described qualifying for a Paralympic semi-final as a profound personal triumph, defiantly disregarding the scandal that has erupted over a 51-year-old biological male sprinter being allowed to race against women.

Ellie Challis, the quadruple amputee with no hands or feet who was inspired to swim by a dolphin with a prosthetic tail, raced to her first Paralympic gold medal last night in the women’s S3 50m backstroke.

Ellie Challis won gold in the women's 50m S3 backstroke - Andrew Coudlridge/Reuters Click here to view this content.

A father of a player who recently competed in a match against Blair Hamilton, the biologically male goalkeeper signed by the transgender manager of Sutton United's female team, has described how his daughter was “massively intimidated” by her opponent's physical advantage.

Valentina Petrillo, the Italian father-of-two who qualified on Friday for a second semi-final of these Paris Paralympics in women's sprinting, has hit back at being called an “out-and-proud cheat” by author JK Rowling , saying: “I've never even read Harry Potter.”

If you wonder why reactions to Lee Carsley's refusal to sing God Save The King are so visceral, it is worth studying the advert that the Football Association put out for his job. “The successful candidate,” it specified, casting the net for Gareth Southgate's successor far and wide, “will understand and embrace the role that the England men's senior team head coach has inspiring the nation.” Anybody who comprehends the workings of the country surely realises that this goal is seldom best achieved by declaring, before a ball has even been kicked, that you will not join in with the national anthem.

Those advising the interim manager should have seen furore coming – and he should have taken the Sven-Goran Eriksson appraoch