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For all the great judo champions France has produced Jean-Luc Rouge will forever hold the honour of being the country’s first world champion.

The four-time European champion helped to shape the sport as a pioneering athlete and after retiring helped to steer the French Judo Federation into becoming one of the most prosperous and visible national judo federations in the world.

Jean-Luc Rouge was elected as President of the French Judo Federation in 2005 and in 2011 was elected as the General Secretary of the IJF, and has been integral to the success of both organisations. His insatiable passion for the sport and history-making exploits as a world-renowned judoka led the Frenchman to share the secrets to his famed harai-goshi in a highly-popular book, entitled.