Peace and Sport unveils new Junior Champions for Peace Club

Peace and Sport is expanding its Champions for Peace Club to include youth athletes for the first time in its history.

To celebrate International Youth Day, on August 12, six dynamic and talented teen-aged athletes between the ages of 12 and 18 will be honored as the first class of the newly created Junior Champions for Peace Club. The teen-aged athletes come from different sports, countries and diverse backgrounds.

The Peace and Sport international organization – which was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Monaco – desires to highlight the vitality of young athletes and their ability to become spokespersons to spread the awareness and mission of the body with the new endeavor.

The youngest member of the new Junior Champions for Peace Club is 12-year-old French-American skateboarder Julian Agliardi. The up-and-coming California athlete says he wants to raise awareness on social issues such as gang violence and delinquency through action sports.

“I’m happy to join the Junior Champions for Peace Club alongside amazing athletes promoting peace and sport,” Agliardi said in a video message.

“I believe that sports has the power the inspire the youth, change lives and build peaceful societies,” he said. “I am always looking for positive inspiration and I’m looking forward to inspiring others as an ambassador for Peace and Sport.”

Aliyyah and Yasmeen Koloc are twin 18-year-old race car and truck drivers from Seychelles. They reside in Dubai, inspired by their father who was a two-time European truck racing champion in the 1990s.

“Coming from a multi-cultural background, diversity and equality is very important to us,” Aliyah said.

We have experienced what it is like to have been singled out because of our differences and therefore we have tried to spread more awareness about inclusion and awareness in our sport,” Yasmeen said.

“We hope that our story will inspire people to work together in peace and harmony,” Aliyah said. At age nine, Fiorina Berezovsky was the youngest champion at the 2016 Chess Olympiad in Baku in 2016. The German, with her Ukrainian roots is the organizer of the “Chess For Peace” tournament to benefit Ukrainian refugees.

The other inaugural members of the Junior Champions for Peace Club include 18-year-old Monegasque Olympic swimmer Théo Druenne and AS Monaco soccer player Mamadou Coulibaly of France.

The six young athletes join roughly 110 elite level sportsmen and sportswomen who comprise Peace and Sport’s Champions for Peace Club, which was established in 2009.

Their aim is to contribute to worldwide peace through the presence and power of sport.

Current Champions for Peace include International Olympic Committee (IOC) members Sergey Bubka, Tony Estanguet and Yelena Isinbayeva. Other notable names are Dick Fosbury, Johan Koss, Mutaz Essa Barshim and Novak Djokovic to name a few who have enlisted their services.

In 2021, Taekwondo Olympic medalist and Champion for Peace Marlene Harnois was appointed as representative of the Champions for Peace Club, succeeding Olympic Canoe-Kayak medalist Benjamin Boukpeti.

“Today more than ever, younger generations are willing to build a sustainable future, hoping to leave behind a powerful legacy,” Harnois said. “They have progressively made their voices heard in diverse areas such as education, gender equality, social inclusion, the protection of the environment and peace building.

“Creating a Junior Champions for Peace is an important step towards recognizing the role of the youth in accelerating positive social change,” she said.

Joël Bouzou, a former modern pentathlon Olympic medalist and world champion, founded Peace and Sport in 2007. In cooperation with and under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, it strives to utilize the power of sport and its values to contribute to worldwide peace.

“Young generations not only follow the example, but they can be an example and powerful source of inspiration to others,” Bouzou said. “With the creation of the Junior Champions for Peace Club, we wish to provide to the youth a platform of expression and to underline their ability to play a key advocacy role.”

The 13th edition of the Peace and Forum titled Sport as an answer for peace is scheduled for December 1 and 2, once again taking place in Monaco.

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