At just 14 years old, Albania’s Ejsi Ahmeti has a distinction that sets her apart from every other competitor at the Taranto 2026 Mediterranean Games. Competing in the Air Rifle Women Junior category, Ejsi is the youngest athlete participating at the Games, an experience she says has been both exciting and challenging as she finds herself competing alongside athletes considerably older and more experienced than her.
Ejsi only discovered that she was the youngest athlete after arriving in Taranto. Other competitors would ask her age, and their reaction when she answered 14 made her realise just how unusual her position was. “It’s very exciting being so young in such a large-scale competition,” she said. The size of the event initially made her nervous, but once competition began, she focused on enjoying the experience and giving her best.
Her presence in Taranto is particularly striking given how recently she entered the sport. Ejsi began shooting only two years ago, after asking her father about the sports he had practised when he was younger. He told her that he had done shooting, which led her to ask where he had trained. The family spent time looking for a range that would accept someone her age before eventually finding the Tirana Club, where she began training.
Ejsi: “You won’t become a champion overnight,”
The transition from curiosity to competitive shooting was not an easy one.Ejsi said she quickly learned that sport requires sacrifices, particularly in terms of time and patience. Talent, she believes, can only take an athlete so far. “You won’t become a champion overnight,” she said, stressing the importance of long-term training in developing experience and skill.
Air Rifle Women Junior – Taranto
Her progress has also been supported by the Albanian federation. Ejsi initially trained with equipment that she described as less than ideal, but as she improved, the federation provided her with a better rifle, shooting clothing and improved conditions. She also pointed to the determination of athletes in Albania, saying they continue to train hard despite the pressures of school, work and financial difficulties.
Coach Shpresa Kotrri has been part of Ejsi’s development from the early stages of her career. Her first competition was a national event in Albania, where she competed in the mixed team event. She remembers being extremely nervous, but said Kotrri helped her control her emotions, calm down and prepare for the competition. Since then, Ejsi has continued competing nationally and has begun to gain international experience.
That experience has grown rapidly. This year she travelled to North Macedonia for a regional competition and later competed in Germany at the Junior World Championships. Both experiences came in the women’s air rifle event and gave the young Albanian a chance to measure herself against athletes outside her domestic competition.
But Ejsi Ahmeti does not define her experience through results alone. For her, sport is also about enjoyment and meeting people. One of the things she particularly appreciates at international competitions is pin trading, which she sees as a way for athletes from different countries to connect away from competition. Rivalries can be intense on the range, she said, but meeting opponents outside competition can create friendships and demonstrate mutual respect.
Ejsi Ahmeti
From Taranto to an Olympic Dream
Her experience has also shaped the message she wants to send to girls in sport. Ejsi believes women have historically been underestimated and sometimes made to feel that they do not belong in sport, particularly in disciplines perceived as more masculine. She welcomes the growing participation of women and believes every girl should have the opportunity to find her place in sport.
She has a similarly straightforward message for younger athletes. Failure, she argues, should not automatically be viewed as failure in the broader sense. Taking part in a competition, standing alongside other athletes and having the courage to compete are achievements in themselves. Training, passion and enjoyment, she believes, are more important in the long term than becoming obsessed with a single result.
The Mediterranean Games themselves were new territory for Ejsi. She admitted that she had not heard much about the event before being told she would participate. Once in Taranto, however, she found herself enjoying the atmosphere and the opportunity to meet athletes from so many different countries. She was conscious that some competitors in her sport have years or even decades of experience, but she did not come to Taranto expecting to compare herself with them.
The youngest athlete at Taranto 2026 came with a simple objective, to compete, learn and enjoy the opportunity. Four years from now,Ejsi hopes to return to the Mediterranean Games as a considerably more experienced shooter. Beyond that, her ambitions reach the Olympic Games. she says she would love to compete at the Olympics and hopes one day to become an Olympic champion.
For now, the 14-year-old Albanian is taking her first major steps, one competition at a time.
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