Dr Lisa Allan is a child of judo whose life has been shaped by the values of the sport. "My parents inspired me a lot. My father has dedicated his life to judo and is a high ranked judoka, so of course that has influenced me. My mother has a completely different personality. She helped me to see things from different perspectives, different angles. Loretta Doyle was also a massive inspiration. When she moved to Scotland, she came to the club I was practising in. I have always been impressed by how she treats everyone so nicely. For me she is the true embodiment of what a champion should be.
When it comes to my professional career, President Vizer has been a massive component of my life. He is a mentor who, much of the time, believes in me more than I do. He pushes me out of my comfort zone and he is right to do so."
Marine Stroobants is one of the assistants to the Secretary General together with Anastasia and with no surprise, "I am very much impressed and inspired by Lisa and also by Larisa (IJF Head of International Relations). I can easily identify myself with them. I mean, they are role models and I very much appreciate the way they deal with their lives and their responsibilities. It's difficult to explain. I know that it took them time to achieve this but I admire how they were able to impose themselves."
Anastasia Parusova is also one of the safeguarding officers of the IJF. "The first person who comes to my mind when talking about inspiration is Simone Veil (former President of the European Parliament, Holocaust survivor and French politician). She is a great figure of feminism and she fought throughout her life for women's rights. From a personal and professional perspective, I must say that I am impressed by all the female competitors. When we work in the shadow of major IJF events, we have the chance to live alongside big champions. We are the witnesses of their joy and sadness, their defeats and victories. We see their daily fights. It is very inspiring.
Clarisse (Agbegnenou) is a real role model for me. I follow every step of her fights on and off the tatami. What she does outside of judo is also very inspiring."
Beyond the inspiration itself, for Anastasia, "Including everyone is to respect the fundamental rights of everyone. It is as simple as that. I really believe that it is our differences that make us stronger. Sport helps to get rid of unnecessary differences while fostering the others, the ones that make us human beings with all our different cultures and backgrounds. In judo we all wear a white judogi, we are not here to point out something special, we are here to join our forces. This is why judo is different. We are strong because we are not the same but we live with the same values in mind."
Marine explains, "I am not a person who thinks in terms of quota. First of all, I want the right people in the right place because they are competent. I want my position, not because I am a woman but because I deserve it. That being said, I am clearly in favour of inclusion, just not at any cost. What is nevertheless important is that we offer the same chances to everyone no matter the gender, the race or the origin. We should never block someone based on the wrong criteria. I believe that judo has improved a lot over the years. The representation of female judoka is impressive. I am really happy to see that countries that were not focusing on women are doing so now; just to mention two, I would say Georgia and Uzbekistan, but the examples are numerous in our sport."
Lisa Allan joins Marine and Anastasia on this analysis, "Inclusion is very important from a global perspective. We live in one world together and by nature we are all different but the world is and must be inclusive, so I think that we have to be representative of the world. The more diverse the teams are, the more success they have. Sport is across all barriers and through judo we can create a more diverse world.
Talking about inspiration, I'd like also to mention Nico (Nicolas Messner, IJF Media and Judo for Peace Director). From the very beginning of my career in international judo and especially when I was nominated as the first Gender Equality Commission chair, he has been a massive supporter. This means a lot to me. Easy to talk to, he has such experience of international judo in the most remote places. By sharing what he he seen out in the field, I've learned a lot.
I can say that there has been a huge change in judo since 2007, when Mr Vizer was elected as IJF President. Judo is more inclusive and diverse than ever before. This is valid across all commissions and staff. We still have a way to go because the world of judo is bigger than what we see on the World Judo Tour, which is very equitable. We have to include beyond barriers and borders. This concerns women, but also people with disabilities, for instance.
We will continue to diversify our population. As we have more and more women in refereeing and coaching, for example, we will develop in all sectors. We must just keep in mind that we can not do it all at once. It takes time, it takes convincing and advocacy. Nothing happens overnight. To go from a 100% male driven sport to a 50/50 modern discipline based on values and competences it takes time. This is why judo is such a powerful educational tool."