Sophie Vouzelaud was elected first runner-up in the Miss France

Miss France

Miss France is the trademark of an annual beauty pageant. Rights to the trademark were obtained in 2002 by the Dutch television production company Endemol through its subsidiary Miss France SAS, whose director general is Sylvie Tellier, Miss France 2002. Endemol also holds the rights in France to...

 pageant of 2007. She represented the region of Limousin

Limousin (province)

Limousin is one of the traditional provinces of France around the city of Limoges. Limousin lies in the foothills of the western edge of the Massif Central, with cold weather in the winter...

.

Sophie was born deaf. She is the first deaf or hard of hearing person to take part in the finals of a Miss France pageant. She communicates using the sign language

Sign language

A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...

 but was adamant in speaking at the finals. She is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in Accounting.

According to Geneviève de Fontenay

Geneviève de Fontenay

Geneviève Mulmann, known as de Fontenay was born on August 30, 1932 in Longwy in Meurthe-et-Moselle. She lives in Saint-Cloud. The name which she uses in public, de Fontenay, is a pseudonym. She is the former president of the Committees Miss France and Miss Europe...

, she had a comfortable lead in the French public's votes but in the end, the jury's vote, which counts for 2/3 of the final score, elected another finalist, Rachel Legrain-Trapani, as Miss France 2007. Trapani won by a single vote of the jury.

Vouzelaud requested, with the consent and support of Miss France 2007, Rachel Legrain-Trapani

Rachel Legrain-Trapani

Rachel Legrain-Trapani was elected Miss France in 2007.http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/actualite/people/20061210.OBS2254/rachel-legrain-trapani-elue-miss-france-2007.html Living in Saint-Quentin, she was elected Miss Aisne, and chosen to represent the region of Picardie...

, to represent France at the Miss World

Miss World

The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951...

 pageant to increase awareness and exposure of deaf people but the organizers refused, stating that they only accept the official winner of the country as a competitor.

She competed in Miss International 2007

Miss International 2007

Miss International 2007, the 47th Miss International pageant was held at The Hotel Prince Park Tower, Tokyo, Japan on October 15, 2007. 61 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown marking at that time, the biggest turnout in the pageants 47 year history. That record was held until...

on October 15 in Japan against another deaf person, Vanessa Peretti

Vanessa Peretti

Vanessa Jackeline Gómez Peretti is a model and Miss Venezuela International 2006. She is tall....

 from Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

. Peretti qualified for the Top 15, but Vouzelaud didn't.