In past Olympic Games, athletes born in what is now Kosovo participated as part of the
Yugoslavian team. In the
1960 Summer Olympics, three football players born in
Kosovo (
Milutin Šoškić,
Fahrudin Jusufi, and
Vladimir Durković) won gold as part of the
Yugoslavia national team. The first individual athlete from Kosovo who competed for
Yugoslavia at the Olympics was boxer
Mehmet Bogujevci in the
1980 Summer Olympics men's welterweight category, reaching the quarterfinals. In the
1984 Summer Olympics, boxer
Aziz Salihu became the first individual athlete from Kosovo to win an Olympic medal, a bronze in the
super heavyweight class. In the following
1988 Summer Olympics, Salihu became the first Kosovan individual athlete to participate for a third time, again in
boxing. The world-renowned judo coach of Kosovo is Driton Kuka. The bronze medalist at the European Championship in 1990 and the World Cup in Hungary in 1991 was to participate for
FR Yugoslavia in the
1992 Barcelona Olympics, but Kosovo pulled out its competitors because of the repression of ethnic Albanians by the regime of Slobodan Milosevic.
Kosovo Albanian Luan Krasniqi won a bronze medal representing
Germany in
heavyweight boxing at the
1996 Summer Olympics in
Atlanta. In the
2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney
Taip Ramadani became the first Kosovan Team athlete to represent
Australia in
Handball.
Fatmire Alushi, who was born in Kosovo, in Istog won a bronze medal while playing on the
German women's football team at the
2008 Olympics in Beijing. Kosovo-Albanian
Kosovare Asllani, representing the
Sweden women's national football team, won silver medals twice: first at the
2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and again in the
2020 Tokyo Olympics. After the
breakup of Yugoslavia, the
Olympic Committee of Kosovo (OCK) was established 1992. However, only
Kosovo Serb athletes participated as part of the Olympic teams of
Serbia and Montenegro and
Serbia. On 17 February 2008, the
Kosovan Parliament declared independence from
Serbia. World junior champion in judo,
Majlinda Kelmendi, qualified for the
2012 Summer Olympics. She wanted to compete under the
flag of Kosovo, but OCK was not recognized by the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the time. Also, the IOC turned down Kelmendi's request to compete as an
independent athlete. Kelmendi chose instead to represent
Albania. In which she couldn't win the first ever medal for Albania as she lost in the Round of Sixteen of this tournament. In April 2013, the
Brussels Agreement was concluded between the
Serbian and
Kosovan governments. Kosovo was recognised as a provisional member of the IOC on 22 October 2014, before becoming a full member on 9 December 2014. At that time, Kosovo was not a member or observer state of the
United Nations, but it had gained
diplomatic recognition as a
sovereign state by
108 out of 193 UN member states. Kelmendi, who had gone on to become World and European judo champion in 2013 and 2014, carried Kosovo's flag during the
Parade of Nations in the opening ceremonies in both
Rio 2016 and
Tokyo 2020. Serbia protested Kosovo's admission to the IOC, as it officially claims that Kosovo is an
autonomous province of Serbia. However, Serbia, considering the harmful effects of
Yugoslavia's expulsion in 1992, decided against boycotting the
2016 Summer Olympics as a consequence. Kosovo competed for the first time as a recognized Olympic nation at the
2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In total eight athletes competed in various sports. Kosovo won one gold medal by Kelmendi in the
women's -52kg class, the first Olympic medal for Kosovo in its history. As Kosovo finished their debut in the
Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in the 54th place. The Olympic Committee of Kosovo made its Winter Olympic debut at the
2018 Games in Pyeongchang.
Albin Tahiri was the flag-bearer at the
2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony. Kosovo competed in the
Tokyo Games in 2021, with five male and six female competitors. Majlinda Kelmendi and
Akil Gjakova were the flag-bearers in the
Parade of Nations. Kosovo won two gold medals in the
2020 Summer Olympics, both in judo.
Distria Krasniqi won the first gold medal for Kosovo in
women's -48kg event.
Nora Gjakova won the second gold medal for Kosovo in the
women's -57kg event, the third gold medal overall for Kosovo at the Olympic Games. They won their two medals after three days of this competition, ranking them 7th on the Olympic Medal table, that particular day. Kosovo finished the
2020 Summer Olympics in Tokio in the 42nd place. Their highest finish so far, as a nation. holding the second gold medal win for Kosovo at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in the
Women's 48 kg category. Kosovo competed at the
2022 Winter Olympics held in Beijing. Its Olympic team consisted of two athletes, one male and one female.
Albin Tahiri competed in four alpine ski events. Kiana Kryeziu became the first woman in the history of
Kosovo to compete at the
Winter Olympics, in the
women's giant slalom. Albin Tahiri achieved the best result for Kosovo at the Winter Olympics in the
men's combined event with a 15th-place finish. His second best finish came in the
men's giant slalom where he finished 30th. In the
2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Kosovo were able to win two more medals this time one silver and one bronze medal.
Distria Krasniqi won silver in the Women's 52 kg category, her second medal at the
Summer Olympics losing the final against
Diyora Keldiyorova after golden score. The following medal were won by
Laura Fazliu who would win the
Bronze Medal in the Women's 63 kg. Kosovo so far won five olympic medals in their three appearances at the Summer Olympics. ==Medal tables==