It was a family matter that almost made Nora Gjakova quit judo — her younger brother Akil was the reason. Nora is now an Olympic hopeful for Kosovo, but she still can remember herself as a 10-year-old with tears in her eyes, struggling to fight her little brother. 

“I almost quit,” Gjakova said as she shared the story of her first experiences with judo. “He is four years younger than me. We went to judo training together and he was better. He was throwing me, and I did not like that at all”.

“Of course, soon I was better and quitting was no option. He stood no chance with me, until he became 15 and much heavier than me,” Gjakova said, smiling at the memories of her beginnings as an athlete. Fighting with her brother was a short-term motivation for Gjakova to maintain a competitive grip on the sport. Other incentives soon came into play, though, like travel, meeting people from all around the world, the prospect of success, and especially the achievements of Majlinda Kelmendi, who became world junior champion during Gjakova’s training and inspired her to keep going. Five years of sweat, tears and wrestling with her brother made Gjakova — daughter of the gym teacher in Peja’s art school — a serious contender. 

“There is not much to offer in Kosovo, other than school. In Peja, there is judo that can take you to the top of the world. The rest is very underdeveloped, even compared to the neighboring countries,” Gjakova said.

Foto: Atdhe Mulla / K2.0.

In the world championship tournament in Zagreb in 2008, she came first in her weight division, and in 2010 she came in seventh place. Along the way, she visited cities in three continents, her stops including Algeria, Turkey, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Croatia and Bosnia. Unlike her competitors, she traveled holding one of the least recognized passports in the world; a Kosovo passport. With one, there are only five countries a person can travel to without a visa. 

“We are quite into sports as a family,” Gjakova said. “I have full support and great motivation from my parents. On this I am very fortunate.” 

Gjakova has come a long way since she and her brother took their first lesson. Now age 22, she holds reputable medals from Grand Prix, Grand Slams and World Cups, some of them gained in the name of Kosovo and some in the name of Albania prior to Kosovo’s recognition by the International Judo Federation in 2012. In November 2014, she became the European Champion under 23, representing Kosovo. “There is no judoka in my category that I cannot beat on a good day”, Gjakova said. 

She is the second-best athlete in Kosovo in terms of results, training side by side with two-time judo world champion Majlinda Kelmendi. Gjakova hopes to follow in Kelmendi’s footsteps and fight for Kosovo at the most prestigious competition in the world: the Olympic Games, to be held in Brazil in 2016. 

“We were in the same category with Majlinda for years. We were competing [against] each other, and that was very good for us,” Gjakova said. “She is not easy on me, which is good because it prepares me for real competition.I think that with a good game strategy, I can beat any of my competition.” 

Gjakova’s confidence has grown since winning her latest medal, which came after spending nearly a year away from judo competition. In a Grand Prix tournament in Rijeka, Croatia, in 2013, she injured her knee during her first fight. She wasn’t exactly sure what had happened to her leg, but she was sure that she wanted to continue fighting. “When you are there, you want to continue and fight for a medal; one does not think much of injuries,” she said.

Gjakova continued in the Grand Prix despite the injury. She described how she kept moving during the pauses while fighting, keeping her body warm and her blood circulating. She knew that if she stopped, her knee could have swollen, forcing her to leave the competition. Motivated by the good results of her compatriot, Kelmendi, she continued fighting — and won the bronze.

The bronze medal was the good news; the bad news hit her when she got home. An X-ray of her knee did not look promising; after a short consultation with her Vienna-based doctor, Florim Ramadani, she had to leave immediately for Austria to have surgery. She bought tickets for herself, and her brother, only to learn that Akil’s visa was expired and he could not go with her. With a swollen knee and no assistance, Gjakova took the plane, the trains and the taxi to get to the hospital. Ramadani, a Kosovo native, covered all of her hospital expenses as a donation to the country of his origin. Then it took eight hard months for Nora to recuperate from a torn ligament and a damaged medial collateral ligament, or MCL. 

“Fighting with a ripped ligament complicated my injury and caused the MCL,” Gjakova said. “But I think I would do it again. When you are in a competition, you want a medal.” 

Since being “humiliated” by her brother at the age of 10, Gjakova never thought of quitting judo. After the operation on her knee, she started working hard on her comeback. First she took a period of rest, then she started physical rehabilitation to regain her form, but perhaps the most difficult was the psychological healing. 

“When you get hurt, the incident stays in your mind. Though you know it is gone, the memory stays, and you never know if you are back without trying yourself in competitions,” Gjakova explained. 

Her first appearance after the injury was for the Galatasaray Judo team in Turkey. She was considered a good member and helped them win the bronze medal in one of the biggest competitions for the Turkish team. She continued fighting in two more appearances, but did not gain the necessary points or medals needed to qualify for the Olympics. 

“Both me and Majlinda fight for Galatasaray; it is a good option for team participation, which was arranged for us by our coach who is also our manager,” Gjakova said. “There is a good team spirit there and we have a lot of friends.” 

Her first major result after the injury was winning the European U-23 title, and now both Gjakova and her coach feel confident that she will qualify for the Olympics in 2016. 

“She fought good,” said Driton Kuka, her coach. “However, she has to improve her strategy and work with me more in this direction. She is not like Majlinda, who listens very carefully. Sometimes Nora is a bit stubborn and I think this is costing her. But I think we have an improvement in this.” 

Gjakova agreed. “I have to train hard, and analyze good fighting strategies while working closer with my coach,” she said. “I hope for participation in the Olympics and to fight for a medal.”  K

Feature image: Atdhe Mulla / K2.0.