Kosovo celebrates historic Olympic gold by Majlinda Kelmendi

On August 7, 2016, the whole world was talking about Kosovo. Judoka Majlinda Kelmendi made history by securing the first Olympic gold medal for Kosovo, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.

The judoka from Peja dominated her competitors, winning rounds one by one, and defeated the Italian Odette Giuffrida in the final.

In the 52 kg category, the Kosovar first defeated the Japanese Misato Nakamura in the semifinals, who earlier eliminated Russian judoka Natalia Kuziutina in the quarterfinals.

She also defeated Christianne Legentil in the quarterfinals. Her first victory was achieved in just 25 seconds against the Swiss Evelyne Tschopp.

The entire sports world opinion, as well as Kosovo, talked about this historic achievement by Kosovo in their Olympic debut.

After this historic success, Majlinda Kelmendi was given a grand reception in Prishtina, where the Olympic champion appeared very happy. At a press conference at Adem Jashari Airport, she thanked everyone and shared that she had gone through a very difficult period due to injuries to regain her form.

“In Rio, I aimed for the gold medal. It wasn’t easy since everyone there dreams of winning that medal. Fortunately, everything went as I expected. The toughest fight was against the Japanese Nakamura, who had been my idol some time ago. Now I managed to compete with her and win; those were indescribable moments. In the final, I was confident I would win because I was very motivated and knew the gold medal would be mine. All this sacrifice was made for my people, so congratulations to everyone,” were Majlinda’s first words after returning to Prishtina.

Majlinda Kelmendi was welcomed as a heroine in Prishtina by thousands of Kosovo fans and citizens, who made her proud.

An open-top bus, destined for the world and Olympic champion Majlinda Kelmendi and the Kosovo Olympic team, paraded the route from the airport to Prishtina and down “Mother Teresa” Boulevard.

Thousands of citizens of all ages applauded, shouted, and cheered Majlinda’s name.

In this way, they expressed their gratitude to the champion who elevated the name and flag of the state of Kosovo.

A large number of international media gave significant coverage to Majlinda Kelmendi’s performance at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.