Judo legend Majlinda Kelmendi exclusive: Rise of female coaches is very inspiring
The first-ever Olympic champion from Kosovo reflects on her new life as a coach: “Sometimes I find it harder than to be an athlete,” the 31-year-old told Olympics.com.
Judo
Even after her retirement in 2021, Majlinda Kelmendi continues to be an iconic figure for judo and particularly for Kosovo.
“My popularity is still the same, maybe people remember me and respect me so much because I was the first one to have won every title for the country in the sport,” the Rio 2016 Olympic champion and two-time world gold medallist told Olympics.com in an exclusive video interview from her home.
"There were so many (memorable) moments during my career and that's probably why people will never forget me."
Standing in front of her apartment in Peja, a town located 80km east of the Eastern European nation's capital, Pristina, is a statue of Kelmendi. Since stepping down from judo, she finally had time to reflect on the gift presented to her by the International Judo Federation three years ago: “It makes me feel proud. Imagine how many judokas are in the world and they decided to make a statue of me in my country…,” she mused.
Kelmendi hung up her judo-gi for good when she realised she could no longer train and compete at the level she desired: “Sometimes I miss it and I could have probably continued for two or three more years, but my body cannot handle it anymore. Even if I want to train, my body is just not listening anymore…,” admitted the 31-year-old, who had been dealing with chronic pain since suffering a serious neck injury in 2015.
Judo hasn't disappeared from her life though.
In fact, a new adventure in coaching began as soon as her competitive career ended: “I decided to be a coach I think even before I finished my career. I’d like to be a coach because when I’m on the tatami, it doesn’t matter where, I feel good, I am myself,” she added.
Majlinda Kelmendi: Coaching is harder than being an athlete
Over a year ago Kelmendi joined the coaching team of her mentor Driton ‘Toni’ Kuka: “He’s the boss, I’m here to help him in everything, depending on what he and the team needs. Mostly I work in judo training sessions,” she explained.
“I thought that I was going to have more time when I retired, but that’s totally different because now I work with kids, with cadets, with juniors, and with seniors. And I travel a lot but it makes me happy,” added the Kosovar, who still keeps fit in the gym ("I gained a few kilos, but they say I look skinnier, maybe because I have less muscles now...")
At first, coaching proved way harder than she expected: “Sometimes I find it harder than to be an athlete,” she confessed.
“When you’re an athlete, you just think about yourself: you just train, give your best and that’s it. As a coach, you need to deal with different personalities and adapt to them, you cannot treat everyone in the same way.
“It’s also a big responsibility because everyone expected me to be as good as I was as an athlete. So it’s been hard, but finally I found my way of coaching.”
Majlinda Kelmendi: Making my way into coaching
The Kosovo legend still considers herself just as an ‘assistant’ of her coach.
“Coach is a big word. I don’t think you just become a good coach with just one year of experience. I know judo a lot because I’ve been doing this all my life, but when it comes to the system of work, that is totally different,” she said.
“Coaching is science, it’s a 24/7 job.” - Majlinda Kelmendi to Olympics.com
One of the biggest challenges she faced at the beginning of her new career was dealing with athletes and characters different from her:
“I was looking at all the athletes from my perspective pretending they would train and act like I would do. Then one day Toni came and said: ‘You can’t expect them to be you.’ Because I was an extremely hard worker and I was so confident. And the young generation now doesn’t have the same determination as I had,” she explained.
Kuka was the recipient in 2021 of the IJF coaching achievement award after leading Kosovo to three Olympic titles in five years.
“Toni is the best coach in the world and I have quite a lot to learn from him. His coaching is based a lot on discipline and if you follow his rules, you’re going to become a successful judoka. He knows how to get the 100% in training and I learn something every day,” she added.
The four-time European champion also reflects on why she can’t simply replicate what her mentor does: “I wish I could work the same way that he works, but it’s not possible. First of all, because I’m a woman and maybe I cannot talk to athletes the way he talks, sometimes having to shout, so I also have to find my way.”
As a former athlete, Kelmendi knows how important it is to build a solid relationship: “The first thing that I want to do as a coach: I want my athletes to trust me, not just on the tatami, but also outside of that. I mean, trust me as a coach and maybe trust me as, I don't know, a second parent.”
She also knows well how to relate with athletes:
“I know judo a lot and I am happy when I can just show to the young generation the experience that I have because I know how it is to win and I also know how it is to lose,” she said.
“So I think I, I have enough experience and knowledge to become a good coach one day, hopefully.”
Majilinda Kelmendi: Female coaches can see things that men can't
Kelmendi is the latest female coach to receive an opportunity at the World Tour level.
She's following in the footsteps of other trailblazers such as Yuko Fujii and Sarah Menezes, who are both coaching for Brazil, France's Severine Vandenhende, and Yvonne Boenisch, who oversees training for the entire Austrian team.
“This makes me very happy because judo is a really hard sport and women can be good athletes as well as good coaches. It’s very inspiring and it’s really good to know that women are now entrusted with this big responsibility, meaning that they can handle it and be successful.”
Boenisch recently won a case against men who had refused her coaching services solely because of her gender: “I’m happy she won and the federation supported her. Many female coaches I think they’re still experiencing some discrimination, but it’s good that they are not alone,” Kosovo’s most successful judoka added.
Kelmendi believes that being a female coach could also have advantages: “I think women are a little bit more sensitive and sometimes they can feel and see things that men can’t,” she said.
“They see details much more than men do and I think this is the reason why women can become maybe sometimes better coaches than men.”
"Women in Kosovo are more hard workers. When they have a goal, nothing can stop them." - Majlinda Kelmendi
The Peja native is now coaching former team-mates and fellow Olympic champions Distria Krasniqi and Nora Gjakova.
“It’s not so hard because even when I was an athlete I was always trying to help them,” Kelmendi explained.
During competitions, she used to support the team in the warm-up area, but at the last World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, she moved to the tunnel and coaching chair: “It was strange at the beginning,” the former -52kg star remembers.
“I was with Krasniqi and there was also Chelsie (Giles), Abe (Uta) and (Amandine) Buchard. It felt like a joke because they were all my opponents and since I knew them so well I could help Distria.
“(When I’m on the coaching chair) I scream a lot, I stand up and I forget that I cannot talk during the fight. But sometimes I get so emotional that I want to jump into the tatami!”
Kelmendi also believes that the Balkan republic can write even more history in the sport.
“As long as we have Toni as head coach, I really believe that Kosovo will have a successful judo (team),” said the O-goshi specialist who’s looking after the promising Laura Fazliu in the -63kg.
“She's really strong, but she did not have so much experience, especially for big senior competitions,” Kelmendi added about the 22-year-old who recently stepped on two IJF Grand Slam podiums.
“So now we have some good new names also for the boys and I really believe that Kosovo's judo will not end or stop with the generation that we have now because we are also working on the young generation.”