koji mi imamo. Živela Srbija“, re- kao je emotivno Nole. Govorili su i košarkaši, pevalo se, slavilo i zaista treba biti u Be- ogradu kad „radi“ balkon Starog dvora. Ali i kad na njemu nema šampiona vredi videti to prele- po zdanje. Palata srpske dinastije Obrenović, u kojoj je danas Skup- ština grada Beograda, nalazi se na uglu ulica Kralja Milana i Dra- goslava Jovanovića. Sagrađen je između 1882. i 1884. s namerom da prevaziđe sve dotadašnje rezi- dencije srpskih vladara. Za Stari dvor vezani su važ- ni događaji iz vremena političke moći dinastije Obrenović: zgrada je podignuta kada je Srbija pro- glašena za kraljevinu, a u njoj je kralj Milan 22. februara 1889. ab- dicirao u korist sina Aleksandra. Od 1903. do 1914. Stari dvor je rezidencija dinastije Karađorđe- vić. Od 1919. do 1920. u njemu su se održavale sednice privremene Narodne skupštine, a sve vreme do 1941. dvorske zabave i prije- mi visokih stranih gostiju. Danas se ovi reprezentativni prostori u Starom dvoru koriste za prijeme domaćih i stranih de- legacija i uglednih gostiju iz ze- mlje i sveta, svečanu dodelu pri- znanja Skupštine grada, prijeme, bankete, balove, koncerte, promo- cije knjiga i druge kulturne ma- nifestacije. Tu su, naravno, kabi- neti zvaničnika, ali i taj balkon o kom sanjaju svi srpski sportisti...
A ceremonious wel- come reception was held on the plateau in front of the Bel- grade City Assembly last month for the Serbian basketball squad that won silver at the FIBA World Cup in Manila, the basketball players who proved victorious in the FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup in Jerusalem and the world’s top tennis player, No- vak Đoković, who secured his 24 th Grand Slam title at this year’s US Open in New York. The boys all appeared on the leg- endary balcony of the City Assem- bly, where Serbia’s best athletes have been awaited and congratulated af- ter great successes for many years. And despite Belgrade boasting thou- sands upon thousands of beauti- ful terraces and balconies, every- one knows exactly which one we mean when we say ‘the balcony’. That’s because only one has pre- sented champions to the public for decades. Many important things have changed, but one thing has re- mained the same: sporting success- es and welcome receptions on the balcony of the Old Palace. And over the previous decades we’ve all been there at least once, somewhere in the crowd, waiting for the home- coming of our sporting idols dec- orated with medals. And it all began back in the sum- mer of 1995, when the national bas- ketball team of Yugoslavia returned from Athens with gold. That recep- tion was legendary for many rea- sons. First and foremost, already at the airport, the people had gath- ered spontaneously in their thou-
sands. The basketball players ran across the runway as if they were the Beatles. There were parked cars, chil- dren, flags, endless happiness and joy from the airport all the way to the city centre, and then everyone came together – some on the balco- ny and some on the plateau below. And the balcony has hosted many champions since that fateful 1995. Even Marija Šerifović after her Eu- rovision Song Contest victory. The national team “Eagles” pre- viously attended a reception with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, after which they appeared in front of the people, who gathered in large numbers to greet them. This was among the all-time most emotion- al receptions for athletes, and No- vak found it particularly moving, at one point even giving in to tears that he was no longer able to hold back. The basketball players jumped in to hug him, and he turned to the delighted people, saying: “I’m shak- ing, I don’t know what to say, and there’s so much I would like to say. I would like to congratulate our cham- pions, basketashi [3x3 basketball players] and basketball players, on their phenomenal success – not on- ly this year, but over all these years throughout history. I thank them for accepting me being part of the celebration and for us hanging out together this evening. This is the re- alisation of a boyhood dream for me, and that’s the one I had as a kid, when – like many of my gen- eration – I was there in the crowd and celebrating the great champi- onship medals of our famous bas-
62 | Beograd » Belgrade
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