The International Judo Federation will be honouring top-ranked judokas as part of their reward system to the athletes at the end of the year, where they will receive a U$10,000 cash prize.
Of the 14 judoka players set to be awarded, 7 are women athletes.
Dominating the women’s section are French judokas Amandine Buchard, Madeleine Malonga, and Romane Dicko who were part of the team that won the first-ever gold medal in the Judo mixed team event at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Clarisse Agbegnenou – an Olympic gold medallist in the -63kg division – completes France’s dominance on the end-of-year rankings.
After winning the ‘Female Judoka of the Year’, Kosovo’s Distria Krasniqi, a gold medallist in the 48kg at both the Olympics and European Championship, has also made the cut.
Nora Gjakova, the gold medallist in the -57kg section at the Olympic Games from Kosova and Croatia’s Barbara Matic a gold medal holder in the -70kg completes the list.
Photo 1 Caption: After winning the ‘Female Judoka of the Year’, Kosovo’s Distria Krasniqi a gold medallist in the 48kg at both the Olympics and European Championship is in line to receive a $10,000 cash prize from the International Judo Federation. Photo: International Judo Federation / Gabriela Sabau, Emanuele Di Feliciantonio