On this day in 2021, due to the COVID pandemic and its restrictions, the 2020 Laureates Ceremony organized by the Kosova Olympic Committee saw the biggest sports stars come together. Judoka Distria Krasniqi and basketball player Dardan Berisha received the awards of the night with Krasniqi receiving “Female Athlete of the Year” and Berisha the “Male Athlete of the Year”. Both stars enjoyed continuous success prior to their awards for their contributions to sport in Kosova.

Distria Krasniqi won the bronze medal in the women’s under-48 kg event at the 2020 European Judo Championships held in Prague with even more success afterward. The judoka later struck gold at the International Judo Federation Grand Slam events held in Paris and Budapest in 2020. The evening also saw Krasniqi’s coach Driton Kuka receive the “Coach of the Year” award for the fifth time. Kuka has become a renowned international coach after putting Kosova on the map by coaching Kosova’s biggest-known sports star judoka Majlinda Kelmendi to Olympic success.

Basketball star Berisha, on the other hand, was nominated for the award by the Basketball Federation of Kosova after helping Kosova record two victories in the pre-qualifications for the 2023 International Basketball Federation World Cup and winning the Kosova Cup with his team in 2020. The point guard who plays for KB Sigal Prishtina in the Kosova Basketball Superleague previously represented Poland before Kosova was finally recognized by FIBA in 2015. The men’s basketball team also scored an award at the ceremony with the “Male Team of the Year”. Kosova’s sports stars have shown the world that Kosova has huge untapped potential and inspired little boys and girls that big success can come from a small and often overlooked country.