When you talk about JUDO SERBIA, you can’t get past Aleksandar KUKOLJ. The 32-year-old, who has a university degree in economics, was runner-up at the 2021 World Championships, European Champion in 2017, two-time Olympian, three-time Grand Slam winner (including Tokyo), founded his own Judo club, the Kukolj Team, four years ago. The club now has six coaches and about 200 young judokas (40 of them already competing) at a total of three locations. Aleksandar Kukolj about…
… Judo Serbia: “You can’t earn too much money with Judo. In other words: Everyone involved in our sport in Serbia is passionate about judo. President Ivan TODOROV is the best example. He has a big heart for the sport. We are one big family that is constantly growing and getting better step by step. Our big common goal is to finally win another Olympic Judo medal.”
…the European Club Championships – Champions League on Saturday in the Stark Arena in Belgrade: “This is the second time that the Stark Arena will be hosting a major Judo event since I started competing: the European Championships were held here in 2007, I was already quite good as a 16-year-old teenager, but too young to be allowed to take part in the European Championships. Now on Saturday, at the European Club Championships, I have to miss out again. My heart is bleeding… But to be honest: as a heavyweight, currently weighing 99 kg, I’m simply too light to be an asset for Red Star Belgrade or any other club in the plus 90 kg category. That’s why I’ll only be sitting in the stands in the Stark Arena this time. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for all Serbian teams, I know all the athletes, officials and coaches and feel a strong bond with them. I even fought for Red Star once in the Champions League in 2017 … I’m sure the arena will be packed and the atmosphere will be euphoric. In my small club alone, we’ve sold 300 tickets for Saturday… The number of actual Red Star fans in the Stark Arena will be much higher!”
… a possible dream final between Red Star Belgrade and Paris SG: “That would be right up my street. I absolutely believe Red Star can do it, and of course PSG too.”
… his ultimate career goal: “Paris 2024 is the reason why I’m in the dojo twice a day. We haven’t had such a strong Serbian team for a long time, we’ve been waiting for an Olympic judo medal since 1980. I’ve already been to the Olympic Games twice, in Rio in 2016 I was eliminated by the eventual Olympic champion (-90/Mashu BAKER/JPN) and in Tokyo by the later silver medallist (-100/Gu-ham CHO/KOR). An Olympic medal would be an absolute game changer for me. If things go perfectly, we could even win two or three medals for Serbia – Milica NIKOLIC (-48), Nemanja MAJDOV (-90), Marica PERISIC (-57), Milica ZABIC (+78) and I (hopefully BUNCIC and BAGAEV too) have continuously developed over the last few years.”
… the possible end of his career: “Maybe I’ll continue for another year after Paris, we’ll see. But of course, my career is slowly coming to an end. I’ve been practising judo for 25 years and have been a competitive athlete for 15+ years. I will remain connected to judo for the rest of my life – with my club, possibly have some role in the national federation or something else – time will tell.”
Author: EJU Media