KOK admits that they did not have great expectations at the Olympic Festival

Swimmer Hana Bejiqi was the only competitor to compete on Friday at the Banska Bystrica 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival in Slovakia. In fact, with the appearance of Bejic, Kosovo closed the competitions in this event that started on July 24 in Slovakia and will end on Saturday. Bejiqi competed in the 50 meter breaststroke discipline and did not have any good results. He finished the race with a time of 28.10 seconds, ranking 37th out of 47 swimmers, a result that was not enough to qualify for the semi-finals of this discipline.

"Our swimmer, Hana Bejiqi, competed today in the 50 meter breaststroke discipline at the European Youth Olympic Festival "Banska Bystrica 2022". The 13-year-old finished the race with a time of 28.10 seconds, which placed her 37th out of 47 competitors, which was not enough to qualify for the semifinals. Although he did not manage to break the personal record, based on the results of our competitors in other sports, he removed the judoka Muharrem Hyseni, who came ninth, Hana's result in this discipline, but also in the 100-meter crawl, where he left behind seven competitors. it can be considered somewhat successful," KOK wrote on Friday.

The day before, Bejiqi also competed in the 100-meter breaststroke, finishing 40th. Other contestants who represented Kosovo in this event had similar results - not good - as Bejiqi. Kosovo in Slovakia is represented by 13 athletes in seven different sports: swimming, athletics, judo, cycling, badminton, tennis and artistic gymnastics. None of the athletes managed to enter the medal zone, which, according to the Kosovo Olympic Committee (KOK), would be a great success. Judoka Muharrem Hyseni was the only one who was close to the medal zone. He finished ninth in the category up to 66 kilograms after achieving two victories. Beside Bejiq, Mal Gashi also appeared in the swimming competitions. In the 400-meter crawl, Gashi finished in 41st position, while in the 1500-meter race, he did not compete at all due to health reasons. Meanwhile, the other judoka Muhamedin Veseli (60 kg) was stopped in the first fight after three remarks received by the judges. Tennis players Salidin Rama and Altea Hajrizi did not fare better either. First, they were defeated in the mixed doubles competition 2:0, a result they suffered in the first round in the individual competitions. Even in badminton, Baton Haxhiu and Fijona Mustafa lost all the matches in the groups to end the competition right from the start, before losing 2:0 even in doubles in the second round after passing the first one without a game.

"Based on the performances of the past years as well as the potential of the athletes of the seven sports that we had at our disposal, the expectations were not high, for which we have asked them to give their best and if they win or enter the medal zone would be a great success. It is worth mentioning the appearance of judoka Muharrem Hyseni, who scored two victories and with a little luck was able to enter the medal zone. Other athletes lacked the experience of international competition, but also the quality to challenge competitors of such a level.

"EYOFs are the highest level of youth competitions in Europe and the only competition for summer sports in which we won only one gold medal with the athlete Muhamet Ramadani in four participations. Therefore, based on the performances of the past years as well as the potential of the athletes of the seven sports that we had at our disposal, the expectations were not high, for which we have asked them to give their best and if they win or enter in the medal area it would be a great success. It is worth mentioning the appearance of judoka Muharrem Hyseni, who scored two victories and with a little luck was able to enter the medal zone. The other athletes lacked the experience of international competitions, but also the quality to be challenged with competitors of such a level", said KOK spokesperson, Kushtrim Krasniqi.

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Athlete Vesa Jusufi finished 19th in the 400 meter race, while she finished 22nd in the 100 meter race. Emine Jonuzi came 200th in 20 meters. While the athlete Lorent Mazreku was 14th in the discipline of 1500 meters. Gymnast Vilëza Zeqiri was ranked 61st in the disciplines of acrobatics and skipping. Cyclist Omer Azemi was ranked 84th in the road race discipline, and 90th in the time trial. For Kosovo, this is the fourth participation in this event, while the results in general have not been good, with the exception of the athlete Muhamet Ramadani who two years ago won the gold medal in the shot put. Kosovo previously participated in the European Youth Olympic Summer Festival "Tbilisi 2015", "Gyor 2017" and "Baku 2019". After Slovakia, Kosovo will prepare for next year's Olympic Festival held in Maribor, Slovenia.

"As KOK we hope that this experience will help them for future international competitions and why not for the next summer EYOF (2023), which is held in Maribor, Slovenia, where some of them have the right to participate", he added. Krasniqi.