A perfect example of that is what happened to international judo star Daria Bilodid after the war began in her home country. In her case, as in many others, the ‘judo family’ is not just a phrase and it shows how judo unites people all over the world. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Daria and twenty other Ukrainian judoka, as well as four coaches, have been living and training in the Spanish city of Valencia, at the International Judo Club Valencia, under the guidance of two talented coaches, Sugoi Uriarte and Laura Gomez.
According to Daria, they are very happy to have the opportunity to train in a safe place, “In such a difficult time for all Ukrainians, these people made us feel at home, part of the team and allowed us to continue the full training process in a pleasant atmosphere. We will be eternally grateful to them and to the International Judo Federation for their help and support."
Daria became the youngest world judo champion in history by beating Japan's Funa Tonaki by ippon in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2018. She was just 17 years and 345 days old. By imposing herself to win this first world title, she broke the incredible record of the legendary Ryoko Tani, who won her first planetary crown, among her seven world titles, at the age of 18 years and 27 days, back in 1993.
Prior to February of this year, Daria could still be considered just a child, despite her two world titles and her Olympic bronze medal from Tokyo. Since then, the situation in her country and her evacuation to Spain have made her grow up rapidly.
In the future and no matter where Daria and her teammates are for training, they will continue to compete under their flag and try to do their country proud.
It is, nonetheless, true that Daria's passion for judo and her desire to win can continue to live on in Valencia now, simply because she has found a second family there.