The end of the competitive year 2025, for the first time in the history of Montenegrin sports, was marked by taekwondo, and the 18-year-old was the one who led the way with medals. Andrea Berishaj. The stocky and fearless high school graduate from Tuzi has hung three medals around her neck in just 21 days, from major competitions. The epilogue is - recognition for the best athlete of Montenegro in the selection of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee, and Andrea is the first from this prestigious Olympic sport to boast a senior medal from the largest competition.
Andrea realized the dreams of generations of talented taekwondo fighters in her first senior year, with a bronze medal at the European Championship in Switzerland, to the joy and hope of her club from Podgorica - S3, but also of the entire domestic taekwondo scene. Andrea "pulled her foot", because taekwondo was the only martial art in Montenegro without the biggest senior medals. Bronze in Switzerland, and after only two weeks a medal of the same brilliance at the World Junior Senior Championship (U21) in Kenya, and a week later the best Montenegrin athlete confirmed her great form and class with the last step of the podium at the European Junior Senior Championship in Pristina.
Taekwondo has shown that it has a bright future, professional work and the knowledge to compete with the best. This martial art has come out of the shadows and is no longer in the spotlight of the domestic sports scene, much less on the biggest tatami of the international martial arts scene.
- First of all, I would like to congratulate the New Year and wish happiness and success to the citizens of Montenegro - said the officially best female athlete at the beginning of the traditional New Year's interview, and then continued:
- No, taekwondo must definitely no longer be on the margins of our sport and we must not allow new withdrawals from numerous super-talented competitors. I know what my sister, a year older than me, and I went through. Andjela and I on the way to medals on the big stage. Nine years of training in the basement of the Besa club in Tuzi did not discourage us, nor did the lack of social support and doubts about the future. We knew that all of that would be a thing of the past if we worked and believed in fulfilling the goals we had set. And it turned out that we were right, with the unreserved support of my parents and family, I fulfilled my plan for this season.
At the age of seven, together with her sister Anđela, Andrea began training in taekwondo in Tuzi, and two years ago they decided to continue their career at the Podgorica TK S3.
- The club in Tuzi did not have a gym, it was still under construction, and the coach was S3 Vlado Stanišić has built a gym that is the best in Montenegro for our sport. In Podgorica there are more opportunities for sparring, while in Tuzi I sparred exclusively with Anđela. It is difficult when I am tired after school and have to travel to Podgorica several times for training, but when I step on the tatami I forget all about it. It is also positive that all subjects are "easy" for me and I get A's without any problems. Taekwondo is more than a sport for me, I love training, fighting and competitions. I watch volleyball, handball and sometimes a football match, but I mostly follow the events in my sport. We love training, and in addition to the national coach Stanišić, we also work with Vladimir Drakulović, while our parents also pay for our personal training. Our family supports us, and our father is a martial arts enthusiast. Unfortunately, he didn't have the conditions to train, and when he took us to our first training session, he never dreamed that we would progress to this level - said Andrea.
Speaking about her level compared to the best competitors, she said:
- We beat competitors from the most successful countries: Spain, Greece, Serbia, Croatia, South Korea, Turkey... Then we became aware that we could, and that their only advantage was in the greater number of competitions, they are more experienced and older. Well, at the European Olympic Games in Krakow, the Angels beat the first and second on the rating list in the medal matches - a passage to the final and then for the bronze, and she was only 17 years old. So, you need sports luck to make a result, the calendar was simply not on her side. Then an injury and knee surgery in Zagreb. However, she is successfully recovering, she returned and will be competitive at the next - European and then World Championships. We have decided that Los Angeles will be our city and we are preparing to attack the Olympic medals. We are no longer outsiders, we know what it takes to win a medal, and we rightly expect greater support from Montenegrin sports institutions and society. Montenegro has talented generations in juniors and cadets and we must not allow new withdrawals of great talents, which we are witnessing from the basement in Tuzi, nor that the parents of national team players pay for injury surgeries - emphasizes Andrea, who, when asked who paid for sports knee surgery in Zagreb, answers:
- Our parents paid, of course!
He doesn't recognize his sister on the tatami.
It is impossible to count Andrea Berisha's medals at prestigious and major competitions without leaving one out, forgetting...
- Yes, it really is a big number. The most important things for me, until this season, were the junior European bronze in Riga, and especially the final of the junior grand prix in Bucharest, where, in addition to the gold, I received the award for the best competitor regardless of the category. It was a trigger, the realization that I can go far. I compete in the 67 kg category, while Andđela fights in the 73 kg competition. That's why sparring with her means a lot to me, because we are approximately the same height. Of course, technology now protects quite a bit, it's not like it used to be when you had to hit your opponent so hard that they would hit you in order to score points, but the fights are still dangerous and require maximum preparation and focus - said the 178 cm tall Tuzanka.
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Taekwondo is a dangerous sport, is there a discount at training because you emphasized that Anđela is your biggest idol and inspiration?
- No, we fight in a way that will bring out the "live head". As you train, so you fight, it's a sport and you always have to give everything to win. It may seem strange from the outside, but before and after the ruthless fights, my competitors from the world stage are my great and good friends. Tatami is something else, and like this privately we exchange advice, recommend a good book, a film or inform ourselves about the latest trends. We get closer the most at the camps and it would be great if there were more of them, because during the competition only the first day is free, when you can get to know the city in which we compete. These trips are a great wealth, I have been to over 15 countries, very beautiful. However, Kenya left the strongest impression on me, because the diversity and specificity of Africa is different from anything I am used to.
Taekwondo coach is the hardest job
Greece, Serbia and Croatia are among the leading countries in taekwondo, their competitors win Olympic medals, Montenegro has only taken its first step with Andrea Berisha's European bronze.
- The results show an undoubted talent for this sport in our region. I would still single out Milica Mandić and Aleksandra Perišić, because their stories are inspiring, unique and give us hope that we can do it too. Milica slept in the competition halls with her coach from Serbia, but she believed and proved that she could win Olympic gold. It is true that Aleksandra won Olympic silver for the United States, but without support and as an absolute outsider. So I believe that it is possible, although it is striking that around my competitor at the competition there are about a dozen people involved - a coach, a fitness trainer, a doctor, a physiotherapist, a nutritionist, a sports psychologist... Vlado Stranišić is all of that for us at the competition, he leads us himself, and because of our age he also has to be our parent there. It really takes incredible love, enthusiasm, but also knowledge for all those efforts - emphasized Andrea.
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