BOŽIDAR MALJKOVIĆ, PRESIDENT OF THE OLYMPIC COMMITTEE OF SERBIA
Miracles don’t happen in sport; sporting miracles are created through hard work The Olympic Games in Tokyo represent the light at the end of the tunnel and our competitors are asked only to do one thing - to give their all B ožidar Maljković knows what it takes to achieve a top result in a major competition. One of the most successful, trophy-win- ning basketball coaches, he has been help- ing our athletes in a new role since 2017 - as the president of the Olympic Committee of Serbia. “The task of the Olympic Committee of Serbia, and my task as its president, is to secure the best pos- sible working conditions for our athletes, but also for living under such delicate circumstances as those that reign today. I think we are doing this very successful- ly. A synergy exists where it is most important, be- tween the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Olympic Committee of Serbia and coaches and athletes. Never in my life, or in my coaching career, have I burdened players with irrational statements, rather I’ve sought to relax them ahead of major finals. And I don’t want to deviate from that practise this time either, in order to avoid placing that great weight around the necks of Olympians and their coaches. That's why I won't make any predictions.” Are athletes under increased pressure at the Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic? “The coronavirus has aggravated the work of our athletes, but also other athletes around the world. But great athletes and coaches live under constant pressure; that's part of our lives. Anyone who can't handle that pressure is incapable of competing in top sports. Top sport is a fierce battle in training, but also in competi- tions. Our athletes are handicapped by having not had enough qualifying tournaments and matches, which is the vis major of our lives. In general, I don’t think any of the results achieved in Tokyo will be at the same lev-
Na kraju koliko svojim iskustvom možete da pomognete našim sportistima na veli- kom takmičenju kao što su OI? – Kada sam izabran na ovu funkciju, ljudi od ve- likog iskustva su mi rekli prostim rečima: „Hvala bo- gu da je jedan trener došao na tu poziciju.“ Svi koji su od mene tražili savet, dobili su ga tog istog dana. Uvek stojim na raspolaganju da svojim iskustvom pomognem, ne remeteći ničiji autoritet. Najbolji primer je slučaj Aleksandra Ku- kolja... – Tom pametnom momku i velikom sportisti sa- vetovao sam da promeni kategoriju. Medalja svet- skog vicešampiona potvrda je da je za njega naprav- ljena prava stvar. Pokazala je da je na dobrom putu. Naša zemlja je najviše profitirala i dobila još jednu medalju i još jednog predstavnika na Olimpijskim igrama u Tokiju. U Riju 2016. smo imali jednog džu- distu koji nas je predstavljao, a u Tokiju će ih biti ba- rem četvoro. To je takođe dokaz dobrog rada. U ovom momentu dok razgovaramo, 72 sportista je kvalifi- kovano za Igre u Tokiju, a kako se Igre budu bližile, biće ih sve više.
Olympics » Olimpijada | 61
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