President of the North Macedonian Judo Federation, Vladimir TRPANOSKI, had a front row seat on the final day of competition in the European Youth Olympic Games 2025. After four days of individual competition, all judoka rallied together once again to decide who will become the Mixed Team EYOF Champions. Already in the morning, the Jane Sandanski Arena was full of excitement as the teams cheered one on another on, willing for wins. Trpanoski admits,
I love to watch all judo, but Mixed Teams is the greatest show. Whenever I’m in a judo venue I’m very happy.
Considering the infancy of the federations organisation of EJU events, the high level rivals those that have been hosting for decades. The delegations have been entirely satisfied with their experience,
These past months, we’ve had a lot of events here for judo and in every event we are more and more experienced, so even this one, as we’ve been preparing for a long time, parallel with our European Championships, it is full of energy and I think the best one for me. I think that everyone loves Skopje, we have 26 delegations coming for the Junior European Cup next week, and again we will be hosting the senior cup in September. I’m happy because this year, Skopje has become a centre for European judo.
Mr Vladimir TRPANOSKI. © Kostadin Andonov
After two major championships and with multiple cup events on the horizon, how does President Trpanoski envision the impact on judo in his country ?
I think this year, and all the events that we’ve hosted will have a big impact on judo in North Macedonia, if we compare to other sports, I think we are at the top. Everyone in our organisation is very motivated, people are speaking about judo a lot more now. For that reason, I think it will have a positive impact. In the past few weeks, I’ve had many parents calling me personally to ask where they can send their sons and daughters to start with judo, so already we are seeing interest and growth.
Sports such as handball and football are quite popular in North Macedonia, and they can also claim some Olympic medals from wrestling, but the North Macedonian Judo Federation are organised and pointed to rival these top sports, and with the success of the events in Skopje, Trpanoski believes that it will continue to grow and become the most popular.
Author: Thea Cowen