This is a true story, or maybe not. What do you think?

Her name is Milly, a fourteen year old living in a French town of just over twelve hundred people. Excellent student, first in her class for years; intelligent, excellent reader. Milly is also an athlete!

She has enjoyed a bit of everything, from athletics, swimming, climbing, to other disciplines imposed at school, such as basketball and volleyball. She has her preferences and of course these have changed over the years, but she has maintained her love of boxing for the past five years.

Every Wednesday, rain or shine, Milly prepares her bag and goes to train. There, in addition to moving, attacking and defending, Milly has learned a code; rules of coexistence and respect. Young boxers, boys and girls between the ages of ten and seventeen, greet before and after combat, apply themselves thoroughly, behave seriously while having fun and improving their qualities.

Milly likes Mohammed Ali, knows who he was because she has been informed and has seen the films and reports on the boxing legend. Of course she also has a poster of the phenom in her room.

There are others, reflecting Milly's personality. There are animals, landscapes, photos of space and some other things. Milly is not interested, at the moment, in practising judo, because she loves boxing and does not plan to quit or change her discipline, but next to the Mohammed Ali poster, there is another one in her private collection. It is a photo of a certain Teddy Riner, celebrating the achievement of his tenth World title. "Because he's my favorite athlete," says Milly. Not much to add.

There they are, the two of them, sharing a wall in a teenager's room: the best boxer of all time with the best judoka of his time.

See also
Special Olympics
The IJF and Special Olympics Reinforce Partnership

28. May. 2025 / With the mission of promoting the development of judo ...

Gender Equality
JFPSA Works for Women’s Empowerment

27. May. 2025 / The Judo for Women Empowerment initiative was launched ...

Gender Equality
Women's Judo Conference

26. May. 2025 / On 13th May the Maison de la Culture du Japon in Paris, ...

Interview
Police and Judo Are His Life

27. May. 2025 / We have published several articles about the work of ...

Judo in Schools
Inauguration of the Nova Estrela Global Judo School

26. May. 2025 / A new chapter opens for Santomean judo.

Judo for Children
2024-2025 National Children’s Judo Training Camp Concludes Successfully

19. May. 2025 / Sierra Leone's National Children’s Judo Training ...

Judo in Schools
Judo in Schools: Namibia’s First Sho Dan Judoka

19. May. 2025 / Judo is developing in Namibia in Southern Africa at ...

News
Judo Focuses on Development at the AIPS Congress

19. May. 2025 / For several days sport’s media and journalists from ...

IBSA WC 2025
Two First-Timers!

15. May. 2025 / The 2025 IBSA World Judo Championships Astana began ...

IBSA WC 2025
Sara Alvarez: Problem-Solving on the Move

15. May. 2025 / World medallist and double European champion Sara Alvarez ...

Athlete Stories
Nekoda Davis is Ready for New Challenges

15. May. 2025 / Taking the decision to retire is among the biggest ...

IBSA WC 2025
Janos Tardos: How I Arrived Here

15. May. 2025 / IBSA Judo Chair Janos Tardos has been instrumental ...

IBSA WC 2025
Day Two at the IBSA World Championships

14. May. 2025 / Going into the second day of individual competition, ...

INTERVIEW EXPRESS
Shishime Ai (JPN)

08. Jun. 2018 / The next reigning world champion to be invited to answer ...

News
5 Key Takeaways from judo’s first Tokyo 2020 qualifier

06. Jun. 2018 / Highlights from Hohhot Grand Prix 2018

VIDEO
Judo for the World in Iran

07. Jun. 2018 / In April 2018, the International Judo Federation and ...

Meeting
JUDO: A Beneficial Cause

07. Jun. 2018 / 'Society should believe in sport as a beneficial cause ...