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The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Albania

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This page contains a list of the greatest Albanian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 3,059 Athletes, 6 of which were born in Albania. This makes Albania the birth place of the 70th most number of Athletes behind Moldova and Indonesia.

Top 6

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Albanian Athletes of all time. This list of famous Albanian Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Pyrros Dimas

1. Pyrros Dimas (1971 - )

With an HPI of 42.47, Pyrros Dimas is the most famous Albanian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages on wikipedia.

Pyrros Dimas (Greek: Πύρρος Δήμας; pronounced [piros ðimas]; born 13 October 1971) is a Greek politician and former weightlifter. He is currently the technical director for USA Weightlifting, having taken that position in June 2017. Dimas has also been involved in politics as a member of the Hellenic Parliament, representing the Panhellenic Socialist Movement from 2012 to 2015. Dimas is the most decorated Greek athlete in the Olympics and is widely considered one of the greatest weightlifters of all time, having been three times Olympic Gold Medalist (in his fourth Olympiad, a knee injury notwithstanding, he won the bronze medal), and three times World Champion. He was named the Greek Male Athlete of the Year, for the years 1992, 1993, 1995, and 1996.

Photo of Mirela Maniani

2. Mirela Maniani (1976 - )

With an HPI of 33.27, Mirela Maniani is the 2nd most famous Albanian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Mirela Maniani (Greek: Μιρέλα Μανιάνι, [miˈrela maˈɲani], born 21 December 1976) is a Greek retired track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw.

Photo of Luiza Gega

3. Luiza Gega (1988 - )

With an HPI of 27.82, Luiza Gega is the 3rd most famous Albanian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Luiza Gega (born 5 November 1988) is an Albanian middle- and long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase since 2016. She won the silver medal in the event at the 2016 European Championships, and a gold in 2022 setting the championship record in the process. Her silver was the first ever Albania’s European medal, while her gold was the first ever title for the country at the European Athletics Championships.Gega represented Albania at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, competing in the women's 3000 m steeplechase.She competed at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, finishing ninth, and at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, finishing fifth, both in the 3000 metres steeplechase. In 2022 she became European Champion in that discipline, where previously, in 2016, she had been runner-up. Gega is the Albanian record holder in the 800, 1500, 3000 (those three out and indoor), 5000, 10,000 metres, half-marathon and marathon distances as well as the 2000 and 3000 metres steeplechase.

Photo of Romela Begaj

4. Romela Begaj (1986 - )

With an HPI of 25.43, Romela Begaj is the 4th most famous Albanian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Romela Aleksandër Begaj (born 2 November 1986) is an Albanian weightlifter. On 11 November 2014 in Almaty she became world champion in the Snatch style for the category up to 63 kg. Previously Begaj represented Albania at the 2008 European Weightlifting Championships where she took home the silver medal. She also represented Albania at 2008 Olympic Games in China where she finished 6th in the under 58 kg category.In the 2011 World Weightlifting Championships she got bronze medal in snatch. Begaj, 28, became the first Albanian woman to win a World Championship gold medal by lifting 113 kg in the snatch. However, Begaj failed an anti-doping test for this event and her results will likely be expunged.

Photo of Izmir Smajlaj

5. Izmir Smajlaj (1993 - )

With an HPI of 21.47, Izmir Smajlaj is the 5th most famous Albanian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Izmir Smajlaj (born 29 March 1993) is an Albanian athlete who specialises in the long jump. He won the gold medal at the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, the first gold medal for his country at a major athletics competition, setting a new national and personal record of 8.08 metres in 2017. His personal bests in the long jump are: 8.16 metres outdoors (NWI, 2021) in Tirana. (new national record) 8.11 metres outdoors (–0.7 m/s wind, 2019) in Shkodër. (new national record) 8.08 metres indoors (2017) – First place in long jump competition, gold medal at the European Athletics Indoor Championships, Belgrade, Serbia 7.93 metres indoors (2018) – First place in long jump competition, gold medal at the Balkan Indoor Championships, Istanbul, Turkey 7.89 metres outdoors (2018) – First place in long jump competition, gold medal and best olympic athlete of the match at the Albanian Athletics Outdoor Championships, Elbasan, Albania 7.89 metres outdoors (2018) – First place in long jump competition, gold medal and title of "Best athlete male of the competition" at Small States of Europe,The Championships of the Small States of Europe (CSSE) is a biennial competition in outdoor track and field organised by the Athletic Association of Small States of Europe (AASE). First held in 2016, the competition is held on alternate years with the Games of the Small States of Europe. LiechtensteinIn addition, in the triple jump, he has a personal best of 16.30 metres outdoors (-0.2 m/s wind; 2016; Elbasan, Albania) and 15.15 metres indoors (2014; Tirana, Albania). All the first three marks are current national records.

Photo of Erkand Qerimaj

6. Erkand Qerimaj (1988 - )

With an HPI of 16.74, Erkand Qerimaj is the 6th most famous Albanian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Erkand Mehdi Qerimaj (born 10 August 1988) is an Albanian weightlifter.

Pantheon has 6 people classified as athletes born between 1971 and 1993. Of these 6, 6 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living athletes include Pyrros Dimas, Mirela Maniani, and Luiza Gega. As of April 2022, 1 new athletes have been added to Pantheon including Erkand Qerimaj.

Living Athletes

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Newly Added Athletes (2022)

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