Prishtina, 16 December 2023
Kosovo for the first time hosted the European Judo Championship, “European Championships Open”, which took place in two weight categories (women: -57 kg, men: -73 kg) and gathered over 40 judokas from 26 countries.
Present in this organization of this championship were the President of the country, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Hajrulla Çeku, the president of the Judo Federation of Kosovo, Agron Kuka, the vice-president of the European Federation of Judo, Otto Kneitinger, representatives of sports federations, accredited ambassadors in Kosovo, ministers and deputies.
At the opening ceremony of this championship, Prime Minister Kurti emphasized that Kosovo is a country of judo and a European country, so it is completely natural that the European Judo Championship is being held in Kosovo. He thanked all the teams of the participating countries, and at the same time he thanked our Olympic champion Majlinda Kelmendi, the judo master and coach, Driton Kuka, and the vice-president of the European Judo Federation, Otto Kneitinger.
President Osmani said that the European Judo Championship “Prishtina 2023” constitutes an extremely important sporting event and marks an important step for the affirmation of our country in the international sports arena.
Minister Çeku has assessed the European Judo Championship as a very important event not only for sport and judo, but also for our country, as he thanked the European Judo Union for the trust in organizing this event. The minister says that all this participation in this championship is the best proof that not only do we know how to organize big sports events, but it shows that we love sports and judo.
The President of the Judo Federation of Kosovo, Agron Kuka, said that this is the biggest sports event that has been organized so far in our country. Meanwhile, the vice-president of the European Judo Federation, Otto Kneitinger, thanked Kosovo for organizing this championship, saying that he was surprised for good, to emphasize that this proves that Kosovo is a country of judo.
Kineitinger, on behalf of the European Judo Federation, offered gratitudes and presents to the president Vjosa Osmani, the prime minister Albin Kurti, the minister Hajrulla Çeku, the president of the KJF, Agron Kuka and the world judo champion, Majlinda Kelmendi.
Kosovo in this championship was represented by four competitors and won four medals. The gold medal was won by judoka Akil Gjakova, while three bronze medals were won by Distria Krasniqi, Nora Gjakova and Dardan Cena.
The medals in the men’s competition were awarded by Prime Minister Kurti, while those for the girls were awarded by President Osmani.
The European Judo Championship, “European Championships Open” was organized within the state program, “Kosovo, state of judo” by the Judo Federation of Kosovo, and is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the European Judo Federation.
Last modified: December 19, 2023