Kosovo at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Last updated

Kosovo at the
2020 Summer Olympics
Flag of Kosovo.svg
IOC code KOS
NOC Olympic Committee of Kosovo
Website noc-kosovo.org  (in Albanian and Serbian)
in Tokyo, Japan
July 23, 2021 (2021-07-23) – August 8, 2021 (2021-08-08)
Competitors11 in 6 sports
Flag bearers (opening) Majlinda Kelmendi
Akil Gjakova
Flag bearer (closing) Egzon Shala
Medals
Ranked 42nd
Gold
2
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
2
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia (1920–1992W)
Olympic flag.svg  Independent Olympic Participants (1992S)
Flag of Serbia and Montenegro.svg  Serbia and Montenegro (1996–2006)
Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia (2008–2012)

Kosovo (KOS) competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, represented by the Olympic Committee of Kosovo (KOK/OKK). The nation had previously participated in the Summer Olympic Games on one occasion in 2016. A total of 11 athletes, five men and six women, were selected by the national committee to compete in six sports. Initially scheduled to take place during the summer of 2020, the games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021 in relation to the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). [1]

Contents

Kosovo won two gold medals, a further improvement on its 2016 performance where the country won one gold medal. Kosovo remains the only country to win more than two medals, all of which are gold. The gold medals were won by two female Judokas. [2]

Distria Krasniqi who won Gold in the Women's 48 kg event [3] and by Nora Gjakova who won Gold in the Women's 57 kg event. [4] Majlinda Kelmendi the gold medalist from the 2016 Summer Olympics represented Kosovo for the second time in the Women's 52 kg category. [5] [6]

Background

Following the 127th IOC Session in 2014, Kosovo was announced as an official member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and coincidentally obtained the right to participate as an independent nation in international sports events. [7] Therefore, Kosovo made its Olympic debut as a member state at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [7] Marking the nation's second Summer Olympic participation, the 2020 Summer Olympics were originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020 but were postponed to 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. [8]

Competitors

The following table lists the number of competitors for Kosovo in the 2020 Summer Olympics. The nation's team for the 2020 games was composed of five male and six female competitors, including athlete Musa Hajdari, boxer Donjeta Sadiku, judoka Akil Gjakova, Distria Krasniqi, Majlinda Kelmendi, Nora Gjakova and Loriana Kuka, shooter Drilon Ibrahimi, swimmers Eda Zeqiri and Olt Kondirolli as well as wrestler Egzon Shala.

SportMenWomenTotal
Athletics 101
Boxing 011
Judo 145
Shooting 101
Swimming 112
Wrestling 101
Total5611

Medalists

MedalNameSportEventDate
Gold medal icon.svg Gold Distria Krasniqi Judo Women's 48 kg 24 July
Gold medal icon.svg Gold Nora Gjakova Judo Women's 57 kg 26 July

Athletics

Kosovo received a universality slot from the IAAF to send a male track and field athlete to the Olympics. [9]

Key
Track & road events
AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinal
ResultRankResultRankResultRank
Musa Hajdari Men's 800 m 1:48.968Did not advance

Boxing

Kosovo entered one female boxer into the Olympic tournament after receiving the tripartite invitation quotas.

AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Donjeta Sadiku Women's lightweight Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Dubois  (GBR)
L 0–5
Did not advance

Judo

Kosovo entered five judoka (one men and four women) into the Olympic tournament based on the International Judo Federation Olympics Individual Ranking. [10]

AthleteEventRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsRepechageFinal / BM
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Akil Gjakova Men's −73 kg Flag of Yemen.svg  Ayash  (YEM)
W 10–00
Flag of Switzerland.svg  Stump  (SUI)
W 11–00
Flag of Sweden.svg  Macias  (SWE)
W 10–00
Flag of Mongolia.svg  Tsend-Ochir  (MGL)
L 00–10
Did not advanceFlag of Azerbaijan.svg  Orujov  (AZE)
L 00–10
Did not advance7
Distria Krasniqi Women's –48 kg ByeFlag of Brazil.svg  Chibana  (BRA)
W 10–00
Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg  Lin C-h  (TPE)
W 10–00
Flag of Mongolia.svg  Mönkhbat  (MGL)
W 10–00
ByeFlag of Japan.svg  Tonaki  (JPN)
W 10–00
Gold medal icon.svg
Majlinda Kelmendi Women's –52 kg Flag of Hungary.svg  Pupp  (HUN)
L 00–10
Did not advance
Nora Gjakova Women's –57 kg ByeFlag of the Netherlands.svg  Verhagen  (NED)
W 01–00
Flag of Slovenia.svg  Kajzer  (SLO)
W 11–00
Flag of Japan.svg  Yoshida  (JPN)
W 10–00
ByeFlag of France.svg  Cysique  (FRA)
W 10–00
Gold medal icon.svg
Loriana Kuka Women's –78 kg ByeRussian Olympic Committee flag.png  Babintseva  (ROC)
L 00–10
Did not advance

Shooting

Kosovo received an invitation from the Tripartite Commission to send a men's rifle shooter to the Olympics, as long as the minimum qualifying score (MQS) was met. [11]

AthleteEventQualificationFinal
PointsRankPointsRank
Drilon Ibrahimi Men's 10 m air rifle 608.846Did not advance

Swimming

Kosovo received a universality invitation from FINA to send two top-ranked swimmers (one per gender) in their respective individual events to the Olympics, based on the FINA Points System of June 28, 2021.

AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinal
TimeRankTimeRankTimeRank
Olt Kondirolli Men's 100 m freestyle 54.3364Did not advance
Eda Zeqiri Women's 400 m freestyle 4:38.0224Did not advance

Wrestling

Kosovo qualified one wrestler for the men's freestyle 125 kg, by acknowledging a license from the United World Wrestling, following the disqualification of two wrestlers for anti-doping rules violations. [12] Moreover, these Games marked the country's debut in the sport.

Key:

Freestyle
AthleteEventRound of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalRepechageFinal / BM
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Egzon Shala Men's −125 kg Flag of Algeria.svg  Berrahal  (ALG)
W 5−0 VT
Flag of Iran.svg  Zare  (IRI)
L 1–4 SP
Did not advance7

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References

  1. "Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee". Olympics. 24 March 2020. Archived from the original on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  2. "Tokyo 2020: Two gold medals for Kosovo". 27 July 2021.
  3. "HISTORIKE, Distria Krasniqi e fiton medaljen e artë në Lojërat Olimpike". 24 July 2021.
  4. "Nora Gjakova fiton medaljen e artë".
  5. "First ever Olympics medal for Kosovo".
  6. "Majlinda Kelmendi do medalje ari në "Tokio 2020"".
  7. 1 2 "127th IOC Session comes to close in Monaco". Olympic Games. 9 December 2014. Archived from the original on 17 June 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  8. "Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee". Olympic Games. 24 March 2020. Archived from the original on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  9. "Road to Olympic Games 2020". World Athletics. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  10. International Judo Federation Olympics Ranking
  11. "Quota Places by Nation and Number". www.issf-sports.org/. ISSF. 31 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  12. "Trio of Olympic Licenses Reassigned After Anti-Doping Rules Violations". United World Wrestling. 19 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.