French para-fencing champion Brianna Vidé hopes to bring medals home

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00:00She's been training for this moment for over 10 years.

00:04France's Brianna Vidae has her eyes firmly set on a fencing medal

00:08at this year's Paralympic Games.

00:12I'm just excited to be there,

00:14excited to show my sport to the whole of France

00:17and excited to beat my rivals as well.

00:21Brianna was born with a club foot,

00:23but as a child she trained in traditional fencing.

00:26It's always been a family sport for her,

00:28a passion she shared with her brothers and sisters

00:30and even her partner, a fencing master himself.

00:38As a teenager, competitions became tougher

00:40and the pain caused by her disability soon became unbearable.

00:44At the age of 13, she chose to take up wheelchair fencing.

00:49When I got into the chair and was able to fence without my foot hurting

00:53and with my arms just aching like a normal fencer,

00:56I said to myself,

00:57that's the feeling I should be getting from fencing.

01:02Ten years on, Brianna has become one of the greatest French fencers

01:05in her discipline,

01:06which involves the wheelchairs being fixed to the floor.

01:10But excelling in Paralympic fencing isn't enough to pay the bills.

01:13Even just a few days before the start of the Games,

01:16Brianna was still receiving patients at her practice

01:19to treat their foot disorders.

01:22She's wanted to be a podiatrist ever since receiving treatment herself.

01:27I didn't necessarily think about it for myself

01:30and think, oh, I'll be able to help myself,

01:32but I did think if I can get something out of it,

01:35then maybe I can give something to people,

01:37being particularly sensitive about it, and that's what I liked.

01:41Brianna set up her own practice to have more control

01:44over a particularly packed schedule.

01:46When consultations are over,

01:48she trades in her white coat for a foil and mask.

01:51And her hard work could be about to pay off.

01:57That's great, Bri.

01:58Honestly, you've got rhythm, you've got the skills,

02:00and we're using them, period.

02:02It'll take someone really a lot better than you to beat you.

02:06From the 3rd to the 7th of September,

02:08Brianna will be out of office.

02:10She'll be taking up arms at Paris' Grand Ballet

02:12to compete for a Paralympic medal.

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