ISF She Runs 2022 Press Conference

Second edition of ISF She Runs to take place in Brussels

3000 girls will participate in the sporting event promoting girl empowerment through sports and education from 12-17th of September 2022

On Tuesday, 6th of September 2022, a press conference was held in the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR) in Brussels to announce the second edition of the ISF She Runs - Active Girls' Lead event which will take place in Brussels from 12th to 17th of September 2022.

This is the largest international event that is promoting women empowerment and leadership for girls through sport and education that will welcome over 300 girls from more than 20 countries aged 13 to 18 and more than 2000 Brussels’ girls.

ISF President Laurent Petrynka

The President of the ISF, Laurent Petrynka, presented various dimensions of She Runs 2022 such as: the Cultural Day, the Sport Day (Village and The Run), the Talk Conference, Nation's Night, the Design Sprint and the Final Conference.

“She Runs is an event balancing cultural, social and sporting exchanges. It is a project that I am passionate about, the girls are motivated, ISF is here to help them pursue their projects, ambitions and to empower them through sport and education” Mr. Petrynka said.

First Alderman Benoit Hellings

During the conference, the first Alderman of Climate and Sports, Benoit Hellings, announced the She Runs 2022 event and one of its ambassadors Cynthia Bolingo, Belgian and world athletics star, the “example of excellence in Brussels sport”.

Mr. Benoit emphasized the importance for Brussels to host inspiring projects such as this one. The City of Brussels is looking forward welcoming participants taking over the heart of Europe and beyond in the world. She Runs has the same objective for the city of Brussels and ISF: a better representation of girls in sport and a greater presence of women’s sport in the public space.

She Runs fights inequality and supports women in sports

“For the city of Brussels it is important to have a lot of women in the sports and for them to be equal with men. We have a huge issue of inequality and one of the best ways to solve it is through sports itself. Women in sports are usually predominated by men, so we have to encourage girls to be involved and to help them grow, personally and as athletes, and to become confident women. We are happy to host an event with such a big importance for every young girl today.” - The first Alderman for Climate and Sports Benoit Hellings

She Runs Ambassador Cynthia Bolingo

Event to remember, impact for the future development from early days

The ISF She Runs Ambassadors as Cynthia Bolingo and Malia Metella are going to have a big influence with their accomplished results and careers. Participants of the event will be meeting strong women from sports, educational and media fields.

Sport is the school for life. This event is close to my heart for taking place in my city, Brussels and promoting female empowerment. I am happy to inspire girls not to put limits on themselves and to believe, either in sports or life in general.” - Cynthia Bolingo, She Runs 2022 Ambassador and Belgium Olympian

Various partners understood the importance of such an event. With the support of the Brussels City, European Plus Sport Programme of the European Commission and VinylPlus, this event is reaching its full potential. VinylPlus is partnering with the ISF and helping it to create more sustainable and environmentally friendly sports events through their PVC and recycling project. Indeed, Vinyl has been long used in sport due to its unique functional properties. The flooring which will be used in the ISF She Runs Sports Village is made from recycled PVC - girls are not only going to be running for today, but also for the future. VinylPlus engagement with the young generation in the environmental impact of sporting events is exactly why they are one of our main partners.

We can also count on our long-term partners Kinder Joy of Moving Program, that was always committed to the promotion and transmission of values equity through sports and beyond, and our sports merchandising partner PEAK.

With the support from all the stakeholders, She Runs is a project that is bound to happen. Stay tuned for all the information on our website, social media (@ISF_sports) and tv.isfsports.org