Kurdish Athlete Farshad Gerdkane Wins Fourth European Jiu-Jitsu Championship Title

Brussels, Belgium — Farshad Gerdkane (Gardakaneh), a Kurdish athlete from Kermanshah (Kirmaşan) in Eastern Kurdistan, has won gold at the IBJJF 2026 European No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the 97.5 kg weight class, securing the European championship title for the fourth time in his career.

Competing in the Men's Master 1 division at purple-belt level, Gerdkane topped the podium with a commanding performance on the mat and retained his first place among Europe's best in the discipline governed by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF).

Born in Kermanshah and long based in Brussels, where he competes with the professional Shocx MMA team, Gerdkane announced his victory on social media on 29 October 2026 in Kurdish, Turkish and Persian, writing: "Pîroz be ji hemû Kurdan û hemû Kurdistanê — bi taybetî Xanqîn û Amedê!" (Congratulations to all Kurds and all of Kurdistan — especially to Xanqîn and Amed!). He dedicated the championship medal to everyone who believed in him and to his people, thanking his family, sponsors, coaches, supporters across Kurdistan and Belgium.

The Kurdish sports community widely celebrated the achievement — one of the standout athletic performances by a Kurd on the European stage this year. (Source: Kurdistan24 / kurdnation.com)