Beatrice Maria Adelaide Marzia Vio

Place: Venice

Born: 1997

Biography:

Beatrice Maria Adelaide Marzia Vio, commonly known as Bebe Vio, is an Italian wheelchair fencer who was born in Venice, Italy in 1997. She is a gold medalist in the Paralympic Games and a world champion in the sport of wheelchair fencing. Bebe Vio contracted meningitis at the age of 11, which resulted in the amputation of her arms and legs. Despite this, she returned to the sport of fencing with the help of specialized prosthetics and went on to become a successful athlete.

Early Life and Career

Bebe Vio was born in Venice on 4 March 1997 as the second of three siblings and raised in Mogliano Veneto. In late 2008, when she was 11 years old, she contracted meningitis. In order to save her life, doctors had to amputate both her legs at the knee, and both her forearms. After more than three months of intensive rehabilitation she was able to return to fencing. In her childhood she pursued three passions, which she dubs "the three S's": school (scuola in Italian), fencing (scherma), which she took up when she was five, and scouting (scoutismo). In 2023, she graduated in Communication and International Relations at John Cabot University in Rome.

Athletics

is a champion wheelchair fencer. She uses a special prosthetics to hold her foil, fencing from the shoulder. Under the coaching of Federica Berton and Alice Esposito she took part in her first wheelchair fencing competition in 2010. Her experience inspired her parents to found the non-profit organization Art4sport Onlus, which promotes sport for amputee young people.

• She won her first World Cup in Montreal after she defeated Olympic silver medallist Gyöngyi Dani.
• For this performance she was named paralympic athlete of the month by the International Paralympic Committee.
• In 2015, she became world champion after she defeated Dani 15–4 in the final.
• She was named an ambassador for the Milan Expo 2015 and she published her autobiography, Mi hanno regalato un sogno.

Advocacy

As a result of her illness and her recovery, Bebe Vio has become "a fierce campaigner for early vaccination". She received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2018. On 19 September 2018, after beating Russian opponent Irina Misurova, Bebe Vio was crowned European champion for the third time. Important links : https://Wikioo.org/@/Beatrice-Maria-Adelaide-Marzia-Vio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrice_Vio Note : This article is based on informations from https://Wikioo.org and wikipedia.