Kosovo at the Olympics

Kosovo at the Olympic Games
Flag of Kosovo IOC code  KOS NOC Olympic Committee of Kosovo Website www.noc-kosovo.org (Albanian) (Serbian)
Olympic history
Summer Games
2016
Winter Games
2018
Other related appearances
Yugoslavia (1920–1992W) Independent Olympic Participants (1992S) Serbia and Montenegro (1996–2006) Serbia (2008-2012)

Kosovo is scheduled to make its Olympic debut as a member state in 2016.^[1] Its team is organized by the Olympic Committee of Kosovo (OCK), created in 1992 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 9 December 2014.^[2]

History

From 1920 to the 1992 Winter Olympics, Kosovar athletes participated as part of the Yugoslavian team. In 1960 Summer Olympics three football players born in Kosovo (Milutin Šoškić, Fahrudin Jusufi, Vladimir Durković) won gold medal as part of Yugoslavia national football team. In the 1984 Summer Olympics, boxer Aziz Salihu became the first individual athlete from Kosovo winning an Olympic medal, a bronze in Super heavyweight.^[3]

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, only Kosovar athletes with Serbian ethnicity participated as part of Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia Olympic team. On 17 February 2008 Kosovo's Parliament declared independence from Serbia. World junior champion in judo Majlinda Kelmendi qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics and she wanted to compete under Kosovo flag, but OCK was not recognized by International Olympic Committee at the time. Also, IOC turned down Kelmendi's request to compete as an independent athlete. She chose to represent Albania,^[4] while athletes of Serbian origin participated under the flag of Serbia.

Тhe Olympic Committee of Kosovo was established 1992.^[5] It was recognised as a provisional member of the IOC on 22 October 2014, before becoming a full member on 9 December 2014.^[6] At that time, Kosovo was not a member or observer state of the United Nations, but it has gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 108 out of 193 UN member states. It has been announced that Majlinda Kelmendi, World and European judo champion in 2013 and 2014, will carry Kosovo's flag during the Parade of Nations within the opening ceremony in Rio.^[7]

Medal tables

Medals by Summer Games Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1912 Stockholm as part of Serbia 1920–1988 as part of  Yugoslavia (YUG) 1992 Barcelona as part of  Independent Olympic Participants (IOP) 1996–2006 as part of  Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) 2008–2012 as part of  Serbia (SRB) 2016 Rio de Janeiro – 2020 Tokyo – Total –

Medals by Winter Games Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank 1924–1992 as part of  Yugoslavia (YUG) 1994–2014 as part of  Serbia (SRB) 2018 Pyeongchang – Total –