Lola Mansour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 2 December 1993 Brussels, Belgium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Judoka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Belgium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Judo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight class | –70 kg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Champ. | R64 (2015, 2017) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Champ. | R16 (2015) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profile at external databases | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IJF | 3677 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| JudoInside.com | 48776 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Updated on 21 February 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lola Mansour (born 2 December 1993 in Brussels) is a Belgian professional judoka, gold medalist at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore (2010) and the European Junior Championships (2012). She is Belgian champion in her category (2012, 2014) in addition to international podiums between 2009 and 2018.[1][2][3] Lola publishes her first novel Ceinture blanche (“White belt”) in 2018[4] following an accident that interrupts her sports career. As a feminist activist, ambassador of Give and Take[5] and co-founder of the #BalanceTonSport movement,[6] Lola aims at the empowerment of women for a more inclusive and egalitarian society.[7]
Lola begins her judo training at the age of five and a half at Judo Club Ganshoren. She wins numerous medals in junior tournaments, including the gold medal at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics and at the 2012 European Junior Judo Championships. She becomes Belgian champion in her category in 2012 and 2014, then participates in several major international tournaments winning her first medal in Tunis in January 2015.
On 21 February 2018, Lola suffers a severe concussion on the eve of the Düsseldorf Grand Slam while training for the 2020 Summer Olympics - an injury that leads to a complete interruption of her athletic activities and prevents her from competing for the next three and a half years.[8] Her athletic recovery is not easy, but Lola manages to enlist the support of professionals who accompany her in her rehabilitation.
Thanks to the support of the Faculty of Motor Sciences at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, of Jean-François Lenvain through his Give and Take project,[9] of the MentorYou program[10] coordinated by the European Think & do tank Pour la Solidarité-PLS,[11] and of her trainer Ilse Heylen, Olympic medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Lola returns to the tatami. After two years of rehabilitation and three and a half years without major competition, she wins bronze at the Belgian championships in Herstal on November 11, 2021.[12]
During her time away from sports, Lola has the opportunity to explore other interests: she resumes her writing hobby more seriously and becomes increasingly vocal about sexism and the invisibilization of women in high-performance sport.
