Eight years ago, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. Two years ago, it was recognized as an independent nation by the IOC. On Sunday, the Balkan nation earned its first Olympic medal.
And it ended up being gold.
Two-time world champion Majlinda Kelmendi entered the women’s 52kg tournament as one of the top favorites in the division. She competed at the 2012 Olympics as a member of Albania’s delegation, as Kosovo was not yet recognized by the IOC.
Kelmendi received the honor of being the flag bearer for her homeand’s small eight-athlete delegation, but even heavier than the weight of the flag was the burden of winning the nation’s first medal.
In her first match of the day Saturday morning, Kelmendi delivered an ippon 25 seconds into a Round of 16 match vs. Switzerland’s Evelyne Tschopp, then exploded with excitement immediately afterward.
But Kelmendi was forced to work harder in her next two matches. She edged out Mauritius’ Christianne Legentil, the girl who eliminated her from the London Games, and Japan’s Misato Nakamura, the 3-seed in the tournament, by virtue of having fewer shidos. That set up a Gold Medal Match with Italy’s Odette Giuffrida.
Kelmendi got on the board quickly, scoring a yuko on Giuffrida just 29 seconds into the match. Neither judoka could put up a score for the rest of the match, giving the victory to Kelmendi and Kosovo.
The first bronze medal went to Nakamura, who scored the winning yuko 2 minutes, 20 seconds into a golden score period during her medal match with Brazil’s Erika Miranka. The other bronze went to Russia’s Natalia Kuziutina, who pinned China’s Ma Yingnan for an ippon during their Bronze Medal Match.
Gold: Majlinda Kelmendi (KOS)
Silver: Odette Giuffrida (ITA)
Bronze: Misato Nakamura (JPN)
Bronze: Natalia Kuziutina (RUS)