Start of the Olympic Games. Beatrice Vio, a quadriplegic Italian fencer, parades in the Passerelle Debilly.

Fencing star Beatrice Vio, also known as “Bebe Vio,” made her mark on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in May. This Friday, July 26, she, her infectious smile and her prosthetics made headlines again at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. And for a good reason, the 27-year-old Italian prepared a surprise by participating in the Passerelle Debilly parade.

To the sounds of DJ Barbara Butch’s turntables and wearing an XXL feathered mini dress, the disabled athlete walked from the podium alongside people from the queer community. Among them are drag queen Paloma, winner of Drag Race France season 1, Niki Dole, host of the French version of RuPaul’s show, and Ria Martini, a transgender model from Reunion Island.

A victim of devastating meningitis

Beatrice Vio grew up in Venice in the late 1990s, passionate about fencing since the age of 5, she received her first prize at the age of 11 when she finished 5th in a world competition. Promised a great future, his health deteriorated in 2008, suffering from devastating meningitis accompanied by necrosis. He initially fell into a coma before having to have all four of his limbs amputated to survive – both his forearms and both legs.

Despite the predictions, Beatrice Vio survives. And fights fiercely. The young woman continues her recovery, spending time in the operating room trying to erase the necrotic scars on her body. A year later, she became the first woman to use a unique prosthesis, allowing her to keep her foil, a thrusting weapon, to resume her sport of fencing on the Paralympic field. In total, four new-generation prostheses were given to him by his father, who made them for him in Bologna, Italy, with the help of other specialists. At the age of 27, Bebe Vio is now a 5-time European Champion, 4-time World Champion and two-time Paralympic Fencing Champion in Rio and Tokyo. His story was told on screen in a critically acclaimed Netflix documentary titled Like phoenixes, the Paralympic spirit (2020).