Rečević: We are growing and progressing, a medal would be the crowning achievement of great work

With seven trump cards and a great desire to achieve a good result, Montenegrin judokas will compete from tomorrow to Sunday at the European Senior Championships in Tbilisi, and the President of the Judo Federation Jovica Rečević hopes for a successful performance by the national team, while winning a medal would be a success to be proud of.

Montenegro will be represented at the Old Continent Championship by Novo Raičević, Stevan Nikčević, Stefan Kovinić, Aleksandar Tomić, Danilo Pantić and brothers Jusuf and Jahja Nurković, and Rečević points out that the very fact that we will have seven competitors in the European judo elite is a big deal for our country.

"The competitors had special preparations in preparation for the European Championship. It is the biggest continental event every year. Judo is one of the most popular sports, there are over 200 federations on a global level, and in Europe almost every country has a federation. We will compete with seven competitors, who have met the standards. This is a great success compared to previous years. Back then there were up to three competitors, now there are seven. This shows that we have progressed, that we are growing, that we are improving in terms of results. The fact that winners of over 30 medals from the Olympic Games and continental and world championships are participating in the European Championship is a fact that speaks to what kind of competition there will be in Tbilisi," Rečević said in an interview for Meridiansport.

The beginning of the year was promising for Montenegrin judo. Seven medals were won at the European Senior Cup in Podgorica, followed by a gold medal at the European Open in Warsaw.

"We have been actively preparing. We have had good results in the previous months, at the European Senior Cup in Podgorica we won seven medals, then Novo Raičević won gold at the European Open in Warsaw, Jahja Nurković was seventh at the Grand Slam in Linz. All these are results that give us the right to hope that we can do something significant in Tbilisi," emphasized the head of our judo federation.

Dragomir Bečanović brought the last medal from the European Senior Championships to Montenegro.

Almost four decades have passed since that result.

"A medal would be an incredible achievement because we last won a medal at the European Championships in 1987. We had results in the younger categories at major competitions, but we lacked a big result in the senior competition," recalled Rečević.

Tbilisi will host Europe's best judokas after Podgorica did so 12 months ago and received recognition for organizing the event.

"Last year we hosted the European Championships. In organizing 114 events in 2025, we received a special award from the European Judo Union as the best organizer of a judo competition, which is an indicator of what kind of hosts we were. This is a source of pride for the entire team that presented a great project," said Rečević.

Montenegro has positioned itself well on the European judo map in the last little over two years.

"In recent years, the Judo Federation of Montenegro has reached a high level in terms of infrastructure and organization. This was also noted by representatives of the European Judo Union, who came to our country. We have become regular hosts of the Senior and Junior European Cups, last year we organized the European Senior Championship. This year we are hosting the European Junior Championship in September, a month later we will organize the European Junior Cup and at the end of the year in December, for the first time organized by a national federation, we will host the European Judo Union Congress. The organization of these competitions has quickly put Montenegro back on the European and world judo map," said a satisfied Rečević, who was re-elected as president of the Judo Federation of Montenegro a few months ago:

"I recently received a second mandate to lead Montenegrin judo. I was re-elected unanimously. It is an acknowledgement, but also an obligation for me. After the organizational successes, the goal and priority in the new mandate are the best possible international results in all categories."