Judoka Distria Krasniqi and karateka Islam Selmani are the best athletes of the year in Kosovo, according to KOHJA.
Krasniqi and Selmani had peak successes during 2025 and received the main awards in the traditional KOHA announcement.
KOHA, like no other media or institution in Kosovo, announced the best athletes for the 27th time.
This tradition, which has become a credible measure of sporting achievements in the country, began in 1997 by the KOHA Ditore newspaper. It was athlete Zijadin Kryeziu who was declared the best of that year.
But it is the judokas who have dominated the TIME awards for many, many years.
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Distria Krasniqi is named the best of the year for the sixth time in a row. In 2021, she was named the best together with Nora Gjakova. Both had won Olympic gold medals, which are the most valuable possible in sports.
In 2025, Distria won her first world silver medal, and was once again European champion. She also won medals in Grand Slam and Grand Prix competitions. She finished on the podium in every competition she participated in. She finished 2025 as the first in the world rankings in the 52 kg category and second in the overall rankings of judokas and judokas.
The students of the master judo master, Driton Kuka, won many medals this year as well. Kuka's work as a coach remains incomparable, while this year Distria stood out among the judokas.
Although still 20 years old, Islam Selmani achieved the greatest success that Kosovar karate has ever had. At the World Championships in Egypt, he had an amazing journey. He defeated even the first place holder and in the end won the world silver medal.
For Selman, initially the great success was the qualification for the World Championships. But he lined up victories by reaching the grand final. Before the World Championships he was only 113th in the ranking of the category up to 60 kilograms. Now he is 14th.
KOHA has also awarded other awards in the 27th selection of "Athlete of the Year".
The best club in the men's competition without competition was the football club, Drita from Gjilan. Drita won the championship title and had a historic campaign in the Conference League. They successfully passed the league stage and will appear in the knockout stage.
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The Istog handball club is the best in women's competition. In addition to collecting all the trophies in Kosovo, Istog beat an opponent in European competitions. And this set it apart from champions in other sports.
KOHA also awarded two other prizes.
The young judoka, Enise Zijade, was honored with the “Majlinda Kelmendi” award that KOHA gives for inspiration in sports. She won Kosovo’s only medal at the European Youth Olympic Festival. Zijade won the bronze medal. She also had two other medals from junior level competitions. Enise Zijade has the legendary Majlinda Kelmendi as her coach, whom KOHA honored by establishing an award for inspiration in her name.
It was Majlinda who presented the important award to Zijada.
Meanwhile, with "Special Appreciation", KOHA has honored the Kosovo national football team. The year 2025 was the year of football, namely the national team. In addition to advancing to League B of the Nations League, Kosovo also advanced to the playoffs for World Cup qualification. It had a successful group campaign with Switzerland, Slovenia and Sweden.
For the main awards, "Best Sportswoman of the Year" and "Best Sportsman of the Year", our medium has for several years only considered athletes who develop their activity in Kosovo. This is done to support them as much as possible. Meanwhile, with other awards, it also honors athletes from Kosovo who live in other countries.
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More details about the 27th edition of "Sportsman of the Year" will be provided in the festive edition of TOTAL Sports.
TIME winners over the years
- 1997 - Ziyadin Kryeziu
- 2000 - Besnik Hasi
- 2001 - Kushtrim Munishi
- 2002 - Luan Krasniqi
- 2003 - Afrim Latifi - Kaltrin Krasniqi
- 2004 - Luan Krasniqi - Besire Domaniku
- 2005 - Luan Krasniqi - Majlinda Kelmendi
- 2006 - Habib Ademi - Daulina Osmani
- 2007 - Arben Muqolli - Majlinda Kelmendi
- 2008 - Visar Berisha - Majlinda Kelmendi
- 2009 - Majlinda Kelmendi
- 2010 - Majlinda Kelmendi
- 2011 - Majlinda Kelmendi
- 2012 - Nora Gjakova - Shpetim Idrizi
- 2013 - Nora Gjakova - Dardan Berisha
- 2014 - Nora Gjakova - Dardan Berisha
- 2015 - Nora Gjakova - Dardan Berisha
- 2016 - Nora Gjakova - Herolind Nishevci
- 2017 - Nora Gjakova - Dardan Berisha
- 2018 – Nora Gjakova – Akil Gjakova
- 2019 – Loriana Kuka – Vedat Muriqi
- 2020 – Distria Krasniqi – Amir Rrahmani
- 2021 – Distria Krasniqi and Nora Gjakova – Akil Gjakova
- 2022 – Distria Krasniqi - Armend Thaqi
- 2023 – Distria Krasniqi – Akil Gjakova
- 2024 – Distria Krasniqi
- 2025 – Distria Krasniqi – Islam Selmani
