As the crowd cheered, the diminutive judoka Kelmendi finally let the emotions wash over her as tears began to form in her eyes.
With a 1-0 victory against Italy’s Odette Giuffrida in the women’s 52-kilogram weight category in judo on Sunday afternoon, the second-seeded Kelmendi made history as Kosovo’s first Olympic medalist.
Majlinda Kelmendi of Kosovo wins her country's first ever gold medal.
On what the gold medal means for her country: "That means a lot. People, especially kids, in Kosovo look to me as a hero. I just proved to them that even after the war, even after we survived a war, if they want something they can have it. If they want to be Olympic champions, they can be. Even if we come from a small country, poor country."
A two-time world champion, Kelmendi, 25, is one of eight athletes competing for Kosovo at the Rio Olympics, the country’s debut as a member state.
The National Olympic Committee of Kosovo was established in 1992, but it was not until 2014 that the International Olympic Committee granted it full recognition.
For an athlete who previously had to compete under different national flags to take part in the Summer Games, it was a significant moment for Kelmendi.
“When we got recognized by IOC, it was the best thing that happened to Kosovo,” Kelmendi told CNN last year.”Not just for sport, but as a country, because now athletes and young kids can dream to be in the Olympics and represent Kosovo.”
Four years ago at the 2012 London Olympics, Kelmendi competed under the Albanian flag. This year she was the flag bearer for Kosovo at the Parade of Nations during Friday night’s Opening Ceremonies in Rio de Janeiro.
Competing for Kosovo, however, was not always a certainty for Kelmendi, who told CNN that she questioned whether staying in Kosovo was the best for her career as she did not feel her own government was treating her aspirations seriously.
She won her first world title in 2013 for Kosovo, which was officially recognized by the International Judo Federation a year earlier, but in 2014, when the world championships were held in Russia, she was forced to compete under the “IJF” acronym because the host nation has refused to recognize her homeland.
Throughout the struggles, Kelmendi understands that competing for Kosovo at the Olympics can impact lives beyond her own. She knows her success means that she can give those in her war-torn country something to celebrate.
“I feel so good that I can maybe, for one or two days, make people from Kosovo laugh, make them happy,” she told CNN, “and maybe forget that we have so many problems here.”
No comments:
Post a Comment