Kosovo at the
Olympics
IOC codeKOS
NOCOlympic Committee of Kosovo
Websitewww.noc-kosovo.org (in Albanian, English, and Serbian)
Medals
Ranked 84th
Gold
3
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
3
Summer appearances
Winter appearances
Other related appearances
 Yugoslavia (1920–1992W)
 Independent Olympic Participants (1992S)
 Serbia and Montenegro (1996–2006)
 Serbia (2008–2012)

Kosovo made its Olympic debut as a member state in 2016.[1] Its team is organized by the Olympic Committee of Kosovo (OCK), created in 1992 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 9 December 2014.[1] It won its first medal in its debut appearance in 2016, when judoka Majlinda Kelmendi took gold in the women's -52 kg category. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Nora Gjakova won gold in the women's judo -57 kg class, and Distria Krasniqi won gold in the women's judo -48 kg class.

History

In past Olympic Games, athletes born in what is now Kosovo participated as part of the Yugoslavian team. In the 1960 Summer Olympics, three football players born in Kosovo (Milutin Šoškić, Fahrudin Jusufi, and Vladimir Durković) won gold as part of the Yugoslavia national team.[2] The first individual athlete from Kosovo who competed for Yugoslavia at the Olympics was boxer Mehmet Bogujevci in the 1980 Summer Olympics men's welterweight category, reaching the quarterfinals.[3] In the 1984 Summer Olympics, boxer Aziz Salihu became the first individual athlete from Kosovo to win an Olympic medal, a bronze in the super heavyweight class.[4] In the following 1988 Summer Olympics, Salihu became the first Kosovan individual athlete to participate for a third time, again in boxing.[5] The world-renowned judo coach of Kosovo is Driton Kuka.[6] The bronze medalist at the European Championship in 1990 and the World Cup in Hungary in 1991 was to participate for FR Yugoslavia in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, but Kosovo pulled out its competitors because of the repression of ethnic Albanians by the regime of Slobodan Milosevic.[7] Kosovo Albanian Luan Krasniqi won a bronze medal representing Germany in heavyweight boxing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.[8][9] In the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney Taip Ramadani became the first Kosovan Team athlete to represent Australia in Handball.[10] Another Boxer with Kosovan descent would take place, with Naim Terbunja representing Sweden at the 2008 Summer Olympics.[11] Fatmire Alushi, who was born in Kosovo, in Istog won a bronze medal while playing on the German women's football team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.[12] Kosovo Albanian Kosovare Asllani won silver medals twice in Football at the Summer Olympics, first at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, representing the Sweden women's national football team. She achieved this feat again in the women's tournament in Tokyo.[13]

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the Olympic Committee of Kosovo (OCK) was established 1992.[14] However, only Kosovo Serb athletes participated as part of the Olympic teams of Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia. On 17 February 2008, the Kosovan Parliament declared independence from Serbia. World junior champion in judo, Majlinda Kelmendi, qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics. She wanted to compete under the flag of Kosovo, but OCK was not recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the time. Also, the IOC turned down Kelmendi's request to compete as an independent athlete. Kelmendi chose instead to represent Albania.[15] In which she couldn't win the first ever medal for Albania as she lost in the Round of Sixteen of this tournament.[16]

In April 2013, the Brussels Agreement was concluded between the Serbian and Kosovan governments. Kosovo was recognised as a provisional member of the IOC on 22 October 2014, before becoming a full member on 9 December 2014.[17] At that time, Kosovo was not a member or observer state of the United Nations, but it had gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 97 out of 193 UN member states. Kelmendi, who had gone on to become World and European judo champion in 2013 and 2014, carried Kosovo's flag during the Parade of Nations in the opening ceremonies in both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.[18]

Serbia protested Kosovo's admission to the IOC, as it officially claims that Kosovo is an autonomous province of Serbia. However, Serbia, considering the harmful effects of Yugoslavia's expulsion in 1992, decided against boycotting the 2016 Summer Olympics as a consequence.[19]

Kosovo competed for the first time as a recognized Olympic nation at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In total eight athletes competed in various sports for Kosovo. Kosovo won one gold medal by Kelmendi in the women's -52kg class, the first Olympic medal for Kosovo in its history.[20] As Kosovo finished their debut in the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in the 54th place.[21]

The Olympic Committee of Kosovo made its Winter Olympic debut at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang. Albin Tahiri was the flag-bearer at the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.[22]

Kosovo competed in the Tokyo Games in 2021, with five male and six female competitors. Majlinda Kelmendi and Akil Gjakova were the flag-bearers in the Parade of Nations.

Kosovo won two gold medals in the 2020 Summer Olympics, both in judo. Distria Krasniqi won the first gold medal for Kosovo in women's -48kg event.[23] Nora Gjakova won the second gold medal for Kosovo in the women's -57kg event,[24] the third gold medal overall for Kosovo at the Olympic Games.[25] They won their two medals after three days of this competition, ranking them 7th on the Olympic Medal table, that particular day.[26] [27] Kosovo finished the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokio in the 42nd place. Their highest finish so far, as a nation.[28]

Kosovo competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics held in Beijing. Its Olympic team consisted of two athletes, one male and one female. Albin Tahiri competed in four alpine ski events. Kiana Kryeziu became the first woman in the history of Kosovo to compete at the Winter Olympics, in the women's slalom.[29] Albin Tahiri achieved the best result for Kosovo at the Winter Olympics in the men's combined event with a 15th-place finish.[30] His second best finish came in the men's giant slalom where he finished 30th.[31]

Participation

Timeline of participation

DateTeam
1912as part of  Austria Serbia (SRB)
1920–1936Kingdom of Yugoslavia Kingdom of Yugoslavia (YUG)
1948– 1988Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia SFR Yugoslavia (YUG)
1992 W Croatia (CRO) Slovenia (SLO)Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia SFR Yugoslavia (YUG)
1992 S Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) Independent Olympic Participants (IOP)
1994ban on participation by the UN
1996–2006 North Macedonia (MKD)Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FR Yugoslavia (YUG)/
 Serbia and Montenegro (SCG)
2008–2014 Serbia (SRB) Montenegro (MNE)
2016– Serbia (SRB) Kosovo (KOS)

Medal tables

Medals by sport

SportGoldSilverBronzeTotal
Judo3003
Totals (1 entries)3003

List of medalists

Medal Name Games Sport Event
 GoldMajlinda Kelmendi2016 Rio de Janeiro JudoWomen's 52 kg
 GoldDistria Krasniqi2020 Tokyo JudoWomen's 48 kg
 GoldNora Gjakova2020 Tokyo JudoWomen's 57 kg

List of total medal winners from Kosovo in its history

No.NameSportYear
Under Yugoslavia
1-3Fahrudin Jusufi
Vladimir Durković
Milutin Šoškić		Football1960
4Aziz SalihuBoxing1984
Independent Kosovo
5Majlinda KelmendiJudo2016
6Distria KrasniqiJudo2020
7Nora GjakovaJudo2020

Olympic participants

Summer Olympics

Sport 2016 2020 Athletes
Athletics213
Boxing11
Cycling11
Judo257
Shooting112
Swimming224
Wrestling11

Winter Olympics

Sport 2018 2022 Athletes
Alpine Skiing123

Flagbearers

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Kosovo granted full IOC recognition; can send own team to Olympics in Rio de Janeiro". The Republic. 9 December 2014. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "Olympic Football Tournament Rome 1960 - Matches - FIFA.com". 2019-01-10. Archived from the original on December 26, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Boxing at the 1980 Moskva Summer Games: Men's Welterweight | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". www.sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  4. ↑ https://noc-kosovo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/revista_olimpi_nr_7.pdf
  5. ↑ "AZIZI I RËNDË - Telegrafi". 6 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "Kosovo's Driton Kuka wins judo IJF coaching achievement award".
  7. ↑ Knezevic, Gordana (3 August 2016). "Kosovo Will Realize Its Olympic Dreams in Rio". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  8. ↑ "Unrecognized states at the Olympics". 4 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "Round 13 - Interview: Luan Krasniqi, Cisse Salif and Raphael Zumbano". 11 November 2008. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  10. ↑ https://noc-kosovo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/revista_olimpi_nr_7.pdf
  11. ↑ "Russia's Matvey Korobov (R) celebrates after defeating Sweden's Naim Terbunja in their Middleweight (75 kg) Round of 32 boxing match at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 9, 2008. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won (CHINA Stock Photo - Alamy)".
  12. ↑ "FIFA".
  13. ↑ aswell.https://reporteri.net/sport/kosovare-asllani-fiton-medaljen-e-argjendte-olimpike/
  14. ↑ "IOC grants provisional recognition to Kosovo Olympic Committee". olympic.org. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  15. ↑ "London 2012: Judoka's Kosovo Olympic bid turned down". BBC Sport. 25 May 2012.
  16. ↑ "Kosovo's Olympic dream ends". 29 March 2012.
  17. ↑ "127th IOC Session comes to close in Monaco". olympic.org. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  18. ↑ "Majlinda Kelmendi carries the flag of Kosovo at Rio 2016". 100Judo.com. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  19. ↑ Grohmann, Karolos (9 December 2014). "Kosovo earns Olympic recognition, Serbia furious". Reuters.
  20. ↑ "Kosovo's First Ever Olympic Medalist on her 'Great Moment'".
  21. ↑ ""Rio 2016" publikon tabelën e fundit, ku gjendet Kosova?".
  22. ↑ "These are the six countries making their debut in the Winter Olympics". 6 February 2018.
  23. ↑ "Distria Krasniqi writes another fairytale for Kosovo".
  24. ↑ "Osmani: Në këtë dite zie për popullin tonë, Nora Gjakova i solli dritë Kosovës". 26 July 2021.
  25. ↑ https://www.noc-kosovo.org/repository/docs/olimp_10.pdf
  26. ↑ "Kosova e shtata në botë në renditjen e medaljeve të fituara në Lojërat Olimpike "Tokio 2020"". 26 July 2021.
  27. ↑ "Kosova e shtata në botë për medaljet e fituara në Lojërat Olimpike "Tokio 2020"". 26 July 2021.
  28. ↑ "Përfundojnë Lojërat Olimpike "Tokyo 2020", Kosova e 42-ta". 8 August 2021.
  29. ↑ "Olympic dreams come true for Kosovo skier Kiana Kryeziu". AP News. 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  30. ↑ "Albin Tahiri i 15-ti, arrin rezultatin më të mirë në histori të Kosovës në Lojërat Olimpike Dimërore".
  31. ↑ "Albin Tahiri: Jam i lumtur që hyra sërish në top 30".
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