Born on March 7, 1926, Eliane Girod was a former Swiss basketball player who was part of the legendary team Chêne-Bougeries that claimed 13 consecutive Swiss championships from 1942 to 1954. Her talent led her to be part of the team that participated in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 1952 and the inaugural FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in 1953.
More than an athlete, Eliane became an ambassador for Swiss and global women’s basketball, embodying the curiosity, resilience, and cultural openness that marked the sport’s early international era. Her participation in the first FIBA Women's World Cup exposed her to new cultures, new ideas, and new ways of thinking - experiences that mirrored the broader social shifts the women’s game was beginning to influence worldwide.
70 years later, Éliane’s memories resurfaced like a long-lost treasure. With the support of her daughter, her grandson, and former teammates such as Claudine Clot and Yvonne Cotier, she gathered all the memorabilia from her basketball journey, including a richly detailed diary that she kept during the World Cup, to donate to the FIBA Foundation.