Albanian judoka from Kosovo, Loriana Kuka, won the Golden Medal at the European Open 2022 taking place in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Kuka was able to defeat the Italian athlete Linda Politi in the 78 kg mid-weight category.
This will be the third medal for Kosovo in the judo discipline for 2022 after the other Albanian judoka Distria Krasniqi won a gold and silver medal in Portugal.
25-year-old Distria Krasniqi faced Japan’s 2017 World Champion Tonaki Funa in the final of the -48kg category and took gold within 90 seconds. This was Krasniqi’s third consecutive Masters’ title from the Qatar Olympic Committee.
“I train hard every day and I have the best coach and team. We support each other a lot,” Krasniqi told Euronews.
“I am very proud of myself because in every competition I have attended in the last two years I have returned with a medal,” added the champion from Kosovo.
This is the third medal grabbed by Kosovo’s representative in the event. In parallel, champion Majlinda Kelmendi received the bronze medal after defeating Belgian Charline Van Snick. She was previously defeated in the semifinals by Frenchwoman Amandine Buchard in the under 52 kg category.
Nora Gjakova also won a bronze medal, defeating the Portuguese Telma Monteiro in the category under 57 kilograms. In the semifinals, she lost to Tsukasa Yoshidan.
Judo is one of the most successful sports for Kosovo in the international arena, where in addition to Distria Krasniqi, Majlinda Kelmendi has excelled in writing history as the first athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in 2016.
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