FRANSSEN Juul

General
TRAINING
She said she was suspended from the Dutch national team in late 2016 after the national training programme was centralised in Papendal, and she refused to move there to train full-time. As a result she did not compete internationally for most of 2017, before making her return in November 2017 at The Hague Grand Prix, where she won a gold medal. "After a protracted conflict with the Dutch Judo Federation, I won a gold medal on my return in The Hague in 2017." (judoinside.com, 18 Nov 2017)

DIFFICULT PERIOD
In 2019 she spoke out about a difficult period in her life when she got divorced in 2015, after a two-year marriage and 13-year relationship with her former partner. "I suffered intense grief, disbelief and anger. My self-confidence, self-esteem and self-image were completely destroyed. But I had big tournaments coming up and had to go on. It felt like a nightmare, with sleepless nights and panic attacks becoming part of my life. In 2016 I found professional help. A breakthrough came after a number of sessions, and I slowly started to build myself up again. I wanted to talk about what this did to me, to show that it is sometimes necessary to seek professional help. Sometimes you have to go backwards, in order to move forward. This experience made me the person I am today, and I am proud of it." (juulfranssen.com, 06 Jun 2019)