Paris Grand Slam: Fantastic Distria Krasniqi wins the bronze medal

Distria Krasniqi has continued her run of success at the Paris Grand Slam, the most famous judo competition.

On Saturday, Distria won the bronze medal in the under-52-kilogram category. For the 29-year-old, it is her third bronze medal. She has also won three golds and two silvers. She has regularly won medals in Paris since 2017. The only year she did not win a medal was 2021, when Kosovo’s team did not compete in the event.

The winner of two Olympic medals was the top seed in the under-52-kilogram category. But she did not reach the final.

She had a bye in the first round, while in the second she defeated Frenchwoman Alyssia Poulange by Ippon. The Frenchwoman received three penalties. In the quarterfinals, she completely dominated Spain’s Ayumi Leiva Sanchez. She defeated her in one minute. First, she scored a waza-ari throw, then secured Ippon with a hold.  

In the semifinals, Distria lost to Japan’s Kisumi Omori. After 1:19 minutes of fighting, Omori scored Ippon with a hold. She now has one win and two losses against the Japanese judoka.

In the bronze-medal bout, Distria defeated the judoka representing the United Arab Emirates, Khorloodoi Bishrelt. She won with “Yuko”, which is a smaller score than waza-ari and was reintroduced in judo this year.

Krasniqi had not competed since July last year, when she won the silver medal at the Olympic Games, also in Paris.

With Saturday’s success in the French capital, she secured 500 points in the world rankings.

Erza Muminoviq also competed in the under-52-kilogram category. She was eliminated in her first bout. Dardan Cena also lost his first bout in the under-73-kilogram category.