Majlinda Kelmendi, image and inspiration for Kosovo

Majlinda Kelmendi, Nora Gjakova and Driton Kuka were welcomed in a state ceremony in Prishtina on Friday, after the great success marked at the Judo World Championship in Chelyabinsk of Russia, where Majlinda Kelmendi for the second time was declared the World Champion of judo.

They were welcomed at International Airport of Prishtina, by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Memli Krasniqi and a lot of citizens.

She addressed to the citizens stating that she is very happy for this success and that she feels really proud.

After welcoming the champion team, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and Kosovo Olympic Committee organized a levee for them, which was participated by heads of federations, athletes and personalities of cultural and social life of the country. In this ceremony, Ms. Kelmendi and Mr. Kuka were allocated a state award of 40 thousand Euros for Ms. Kelmendi and 20 thousand Euros for Mr. Kuka.

In this ceremony, Minister Memli Krasniqi said that this is a prodigious success and Majlinda Kelmendi, together with her team are the real image and new history of Kosovo.

“Organizers attempted to blackmail our athletes, but they became even stronger. They could deny the state symbols of Ms. Kelmendi, but they could not deny that she is ‘the queen’ of the world of judo. Majlinda is the face of our country and even a model for all of us of how we can achieve, how we can work for success and for a society of values, success and pride”, said the Minister.

He stated that Kosovo has shown that although it is a small country, it can grow champion athletes in many sports. The Minister added that the country has raised its support on sports, and moreover, that up to know important steps were made in many dimensions, especially in breaking the unfair isolation in sports.

“We shall always be by the side of athletes, because, after all, it is our obligation”, he stated.

“We can say unreservedly that together we have achieved to gradually break the unfair isolation on sports. Very few steps are left, but until then, we shall show our potential, our sports. Now Balkan Basketball league shall start again, we shall be in European qualifications in handball, we have three more international friendly matches in football and many more other presentations. This is not little, considering the challenges that we had in front of us”, the Minister stated.

In her turn, the world champion Majlinda Kelmendi said that she dedicates this victory to all Albanian people and that all this has been as the result of a team and very disciplinary work.

“It was a challenging competition. But, nonetheless, my motivation was enormous to win the golden medal, which I managed to achieve” she said, while she was expressing her gratefulness to all her team and Minister Krasniqi for their continuous support.

Head of the Kosovo Olympic Committee, Besim Hasani, said that the success of Majlinda was not coincidental. “This success is not by chance, but the result of a sustained and hard work” expressed the Head of KOC, adding that Majlinda is a reference for any athlete.

Driton Kuka, a trainer of Kosovo representative said that this competition was a real challenge. “We had an extraordinary repression in Russia. Majlinda was under repression a day before the match and also on the days when she was in program. Inspiration and motivation to win the golden medal was exactly the provocation that the Russians were doing, whereas, Majlinda, on that occasion, said that now I am even stronger, after the provocation done by Russians.

Majlinda is the judo fighter number one in the world, in the 52 kg category and is the two time World Champion and European Champion as well.

After being welcomed in Prishtina, another welcome ceremony was organized for Majlinda and her team in her birth place, the city of Peja.