KELMENDI Majlinda

General
STATUE
In 2020 her hometown of Peja, Kosovo, unveiled a statue of her. "Many people asked me if this statue would be better in Prishtina. I think it's better to be here [Peja] where I was born, raised and started my career. I really believe that this statue will motivate a lot of children in Kosovo and encourage them to achieve the same successes as I have. I started here, from this small place, and reached the world's peaks." (prishtinainsight.com, 28 Feb 2020)

ALBANIA AND KOSOVO
She represented Albania at the 2012 Olympic Games in London because her birth country, Kosovo, was not yet a member of the International Olympic Committee [IOC]. In December 2014 Kosovo was granted IOC membership and she chose to represent Kosovo at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "I always wanted to represent Kosovo because I was born here and everything started here. Kosovo is a new country and I always wanted to be the one who promotes Kosovo and to show the world that my country is good, the people are good and we also have talented kids." (100judo.com, 09 Dec 2014, 21 Apr 2016; bbc.com, 25 May 2012; judoder.com, 14 Jan 2017)

By winning the gold medal in the -52kg category at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, she became Kosovo's first Olympic medallist from any sport. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 May 2020)

She won Kosovo's first judo world championship title at the 2013 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won gold again at the following edition in 2014 to become Kosovo's first judoka to win more than one world championship title. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 May 2020)