Today in the history: 27 November

At the European junior championships in 1988 Ulla Werbrouck won her weight class at under 72 kilograms. The 16-year old Belgian talent defeated Dutch Monique van der Lee. Ulla Werbrouck later became Olympic Champion at Atlanta in 1996 and won the European senior title seven times, but the world title never appears on her impressive fact file. Her opponent in that match in Vienna is most talented as well, and does win the world title. In 1995 in Tokyo she became world champion at the age of 21. Van der Lee, however, retires too early from judo one year later.

Werbrouck’s coach Jean-Marie Dedecker describes the tension and relationship of him and Werbrouck later in his biography “Me Jean Marie Dedecker”. The couple succeeded because Werbrouck was able to find support in a professional soccer player in Belgian. He helped her find the psychological balance.