Albania disappoints in London Olympics

TIRANA, Aug. 6 – Albania’s performance in the London 2012 Olympics ended disappointingly after none of the athletes came close to winning a medal. Weightlifting and judo which were Albania’s only hopes for positive results ended in the worst possible way. It all started bad for Albania, after weightlifter Hysen Pulaku became the first athlete to be banned from the Games for doping just after the opening ceremony, leaving the Albanian team in 10 athletes.
Last June, Erkand Qerimaj was also banned by the International Olympic Committee to participate in the Olympics after failing a doping test. A European champion in Antalya 2012, Qerimaj could have been Albania’s best athlete in London.
Disappointment in weightlifting, where Albania athletes traditionally perform best grew with Romela Begaj, who managed to finish only 11th in female’s 58 kg. Begaj, 25, had made it to sixth in Beijing and won silver at the 2012 European Championships. She was also the Albanian flag bearer in the Parade of Nations but failed to achieve even her best personal results.
Briken Calja was the only Albania weightlifter to finish 9th in his men’s 69 kg category.
Majlinda Kelmendi, a Kosovo judo fighter representing Albania in the Olympics, was also surprisingly beaten by an opponent from Mauritius, an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent, in the quarter final. Kelmendi ran for Albania after she was told by the International Olympic Committee she could not represent Kosovo because of not formally being recognized as a nation by the IOC. She secured her place for London 2012 by finishing fifth in the Olympic qualification rankings.
Klodiana Shala also surprisingly withdrew from her women’s 200 metres in athletics.
Four other athletes competing in swimming, athletics and shooting participating in the Olympic Games thanks to invitations granted by the IOC but did not advance to the final stages of the competition.
The London 2012 was Albania’s sixth participation in the Olympic Games since its debut in 1972. Albania sent a team of four shooters and a weightlifter to the Munich 1972 Olympic Games. The team did not reappear at the Olympic Games until 1992. They have enjoyed most success in weightlifting.
In 1972 Ymer Pampuri broke the Olympic record for the press at featherweight and finished ninth overall. More recently, Ilirjan Suli finished fifth in the men’s middleweight category at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and Romela Begaj was sixth in the women’s lightweight at Beijing 2008. In Beijing, Albania’s team of 11 was the largest in their history.