Several important keynote speakers took part in the conference: Sanda Čorak, Head of the IJF Gender Equality Commission, Brigitte Deydier, three time world champion and Olympic medallist (Seoul 1988), Magali Baton, Olympian, world medallist and Secretary General of France Judo, Jane Bridge, world champion, Céline Géraud, world medallist and journalist, Marie-Claire Restoux and Severine Vandehende, both world and Olympic champions.
The conference can be watched here (French):
During the conference, participants underlined that judo competition, long reserved for men, is now revealing female champions whose talent is admired by all specialists, in a field of physical confrontation in which rigour and resilience are valued.
Very early on, the Japanese art of combat welcomed female practitioners who, however, found themselves confined to physical exercises prioritising health and aesthetics within a strict framework of prevailing standards of decorum. The 1970’s marked the turning point of the long struggle of pioneering women for recognition of their identity and the equal right to win titles and medals.
The conference retraced the commitment of those who have sometimes overcome and sometimes circumvented obstacles and prejudices. Their testimonies allowed the participants to observe the evolution of social codes and norms, to measure what is borrowed from virility and to appreciate the redefinition of collective representations of combat between women.