A stage of the Olympic final in Tokyo between Distria Krasniqi and Funa Tonaki – screenshot from Youtube
After the success in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, in which the country managed to take home an Olympic gold in judo, in Tokyo Kosovo makes an encore with two medals, again from judo. In addition to sporting success, Kosovo also benefits from it in international visibility
During the Tokyo Olympics, Kosovo amazed by winning two gold medals in judo. First that of Distria Krasniqi in the 48kg category, then a few days later to win the gold was Nora Gjakova, for the 57kg category. The two world champions have returned to Pristina welcomed as real heroines for having brought the Kosovo flag to the top step of the Olympic podium. On the occasion of their return to the capital, they thanked and dedicated the medal also to the people of Kosovo, in what was a real institutional public meeting, which also saw Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti on stage with them.
For a few days, in fact, Kosovo was in the top ten countries in the medal table of this edition, and remains among the first countries in the ranking of gold conquered per million inhabitants, making sure that many people could notice something that seems rather trivial , but that it is fundamental for the Kosovars: to let people know that their country exists.
A crowd bath that recalls that of 2016 for Majlinda Kelmendi, who in Rio won the first Olympic medal in the history of the Balkan country. Always a gold in judo, carrying for the first time the flag of the new European country, and its anthem, in worldwide.
Beyond sporting success
Kelmendi’s success was also remembered this year by the President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, who underlined how the athlete has paved the way for the sportsmen and women of the country, giving hope and showing that, despite Kosovo being a small country with many problems still to be solved, it is able to express excellence at an international level.
This sporting success for Kosovo at the Olympics is even more significant given the political implications. In fact, Kosovo is not yet recognized by dozens of countries in the world.
In fact, there is much more than the sporting success behind the warmth with which the athletes on their return from games were welcomed. As the President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani wrote on twitter, recalling the Olympic victory and first gold medal for Kosovo won by Kelmendi in Rio, this is also an opportunity to have their flag raised on the podium and their anthem be heard by all over the world. A very strong symbolic value, because it establishes that Kosovo exists, and that it is able to arrive where other countries fail, despite everything.
All this until recently was not even imaginable, given that the International Olympic Committee only allowed Kosovar athletes to compete for the flag of their country only in 2014. And in 2012, for example, Majlinda Kelmendi competed in the London Olympics for Albania, still claiming that Albanians and Kosovars are the same people, and that therefore she has always represented her people.
In those years Kelmendi had refused generous offers from other nations, who would have liked to have her as an athlete in their own federations.
All these successes are also thanks to Driton Kuka, coach of the girls and selector of the Kosovo judo representation. Kuka himself had a controversial history regarding Olympic participation. In 1991, just twenty years old, he decided to stop competing by refusing to compete as an athlete from Yugoslavia given the crackdown that Belgrade was giving to policies against the Albanian community in Kosovo, thus losing the opportunity to go to the 1992 Barcelona games. , and deciding, after the war, to stop in his hometown, in Peja, to open a gym and train young people, including all the now Olympic champions of his country.
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