Laurence Cousin was born on 7 August 1981, in Saint Germain en Laye, France.[1] From the age of eight she trained in Aikido before discovering Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) through a presentation at her dojo. Looking to train and compete, Cousin joined Europe's oldest BJJ academy Le Cercle Tessier in 1999, becoming their first and only female member.[3] Cousin received her blue belt in 2001 then started to travel to Brazil to train and compete, receiving her purple belt from red beltFlavio Behring at the Behring academy in 2002. As a purple belt Cousin won Bronze at the 2003 World Championship competing in the purple/brown/black division.[a][3] In the year 2004 Cousin received her brown belt[1] and won the 2005 CBJJO World Jiu-Jitsu Cup,[b] she then won bronze in the brown/black division[c] at the 2005 IBJJF World Championship taking place in Brazil.[6] That same year, she was awarded her black belt by Flavio Behring during a seminar of Saulo Ribeiro.[1]
In 2010 following a back injury Cousin decided to step away from training and competing.[13] Two years later, in 2012 she left Paris for Toulouse in the south of France where she established, with her husband Erwan Fouillat, her own academy Acemat.[14] In 2013 Cousin returned to competition, winning gold at the IBJJF London International Open in the lightweight division and silver in Open Class, under team Tropa de Elite.[15] in 2014 Cousin became a member of brothers Xande and Saulo Ribeiro BJJ team, making Acemat their first French affiliation.[16] Competing under Acemat /Ribeiro jiu-jitsu, Cousin won double gold at the 2014 London Open International (in both her division and in Open Class) followed by gold at the 2014 European Championship.[3][17]
In 2015 she won gold at the IBJJF World Master, bronze at the IBJJF European championship and competing in Sport Ju-Jitsu, gold at the JJIFNewaza No-Gi European Championships.[18][19] In 2016 Cousin participated in Polaris Pro 3 in England, won silver at the 2016 European championship[20] then won silver at the 2016 World Master IBJJF Championship in her weight class and won bronze in the Open Class.[21] In 2017 Cousin entered the European Master Championship winning bronze in two categories, the following year she won gold in both her division and in Open Class.[22]
In 2019 Cousin won the IBJJF World Master 2 in her weight division and silver in the Open Class as well as becoming for the second time double European Master Champion.[23] In 2022 she became French JJIF Newaza Champion for the fourth time,[14] that same year, competing in Ju-jitsu at the 2022 World Games she won bronze in Newaza (−57 kg) and gold in the National team competition representing France.[24] Cousin won gold in January at the 2023 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu European Championship competing in Master 2 featherweight division.[25]
^Women in purple, brown and black belts competed in the same combined division.[4]
^ abThe Confederacao Brasileira de Jiu Jitsu Olimpico (CBJJO) was established in 2002 as an alternative to the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF/CBJJ).[5]
^Women in brown and black belts competed in the same combined division.[4]
