Youth Judo Tournament: Six Golds for BiH, European Awards Presented

(Patria) - The two-day international judo competition, Youth Judo Tournament Sarajevo 2025, which featured over 380 young judokas from 17 countries, concluded today in the Bosnian capital.

The newly formed competition for young judokas up to 15 years old embarked on its journey from Sarajevo a year ago. Unlike its premiere edition, this year, in addition to competitors up to 15 years old, boys and girls aged up to 13 also had the opportunity to test their skills against their peers.

After winning four gold medals on the first day of competition, the two won today by Adna Lukač (U13, -40 kg, Braća Lukač Sarajevo) and Sara Nikolić (U-15, -63 kg, Slavija Istočno Sarajevo) were enough for Bosnia and Herzegovina to secure second place overall with six gold, ten silver, and as many bronze medals. First place went to Serbia with 14 gold, 11 silver, and eight bronze medals, while competitors from Montenegro took third place with five gold, three silver, and nine bronze.

Among the 99 clubs whose members competed in the Youth Tournament, it is worth highlighting that four out of the total six gold medals for Bosnia and Herzegovina were won by members of the Judo Club Braća Lukač from Sarajevo.

Although it is an international competition for younger children, the President of the European Judo Union, Laszlo Toth, praised the excellent technical organization for which the Judo Federation of BiH is well-known.

"I have the feeling that we have witnessed a Grand Prix or a Grand Slam. The tournament was organized at a very high level, and I wish I could give everyone a gold medal for their work and effort," said Toth.

The EJU president used this competition to present special awards to Bosnian and Herzegovinian judokas Larisa Cerić and Aleksandra Samardžić, who competed in the Olympic Games in Paris last summer. In addition to Cerić and Samardžić, Toth presented a plaque for Olympic coach to Branislav Crnogorac, while Ognjen Pavlović received a plaque on behalf of the Judo Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A special diploma for the master rank of 9th DAN was awarded to Milanko Mučibabić.

Finally, it is worth emphasizing that in addition to medals and fond memories, the young judokas from Sarajevo will also take away new knowledge and techniques they had the opportunity to learn and master thanks to the Kodokan seminar led by Olympic medalists Nakamura Misato from Japan and Maria Centracchio from Italy.