Raymond Damblant (born 10 January 1931) is a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

, one of only five Canadian judoka to achieve the rank of ''kudan'' (ninth

dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

), and has been deeply involved in the development of Canadian Judo, especially in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. He has refereed at three

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

and six

World Judo Championships The World Judo Championships are the highest level of international judo competition, along with the Olympic judo competition. The championships are held once every year (except the years when the Olympics take place) by the International Judo ...

, coached the Canadian judo team on multiple occasions, held multiple positions on

Judo Canada Judo Canada, formerly known as The Canadian Kodokan Black Belt Association, is the non-profit national governing body of the Japanese martial art and combat sport Judo in Canada, and a federation of Judo associations in each of the ten provinces ...

's executive committee, served as the founding President of Judo Quebec, and was inducted into the Judo Canada Hall of Fame in 1996. Damblant was born in France and moved to Canada in 1959 to help promote judo in

on behalf of the

French Judo Federation French Judo Federation (, is the sports association that aims to promote the practice of Judo in France, Judo and related disciplines composed of jujitsu, kendo, iaïdo, sport chanbara, Jōdō, naginata, Kyūdō, sumo and taïso. Created on Dece ...

. He had planned to stay for a year but instead settled in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

permanently. Damblant founded Club de judo Hakudokan in 1968, and retired as its technical director in 2017.

References

Canadian male judoka 1931 births Living people {{Canada-judo-bio-stub

See also

References