From the special reporter "Vijesti"
The Montenegrin Olympic dream in Paris ended on Monday with the last performance of the water polo player, while the sailor Milivoj Dukić he didn't even get a chance to try to reach the finals in the 9th and 10th regattas, so he had to settle for 14th place.
Therefore, we can draw a line, even after Paris - the fifth Games in which it participated - Montenegro has one medal, the one brought by handball players from London in 2012. Water polo players were ranked fourth three times.
"This is definitely not the best performance of the Montenegrin Olympic team, but we could see good things in the whole story. Performance Milivoje Dukić was, for example, fantastic. He entered the elite, which was not easy in such a demanding and expensive sport that requires dedication, strength and skill, hours and hours of training. And that is something that is encouraging," he said Dusan Simonović, president of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee, in a conversation with our media in Paris.
Dukić is a bright spot, but Montenegro does not have only him in sailing.
"There are young forces coming, like Marković i Golubović. Apparently, the Association is doing well, and I believe that we will count on great representatives for many years to come. Continuity and tradition are important and this should be preserved and paid attention to," said the first man of COK.
The water polo national team is an "open wound", the most is always expected from it, and therefore the disappointment is great. This is also the case now that the "sharks" have been eliminated from the group.
"The water polo players had two great games in the group, which, unfortunately, ended in penalties and defeats. Although they showed that there is class and quality that can be upgraded and offer a better result in the future. Realistically speaking, we were in the circle of five or six teams at the Games as well. This is a young team and I am sure, with a few younger players who have time to get fit for the next Olympic cycle, we can again have a team that will fight for a medal. You need patience, to sit down and do an analysis with a cool head. Of course, for those who need to do it to do it, I don't dare to talk about these things in more detail. Simply, I don't think we need much to be what we used to be," said Simonović.
He also referred to the performance of the swimmer Jovan Kuljača and a swimmer Miloš Milenkovic, who made their Olympic debut in Paris.
"Milenković was disturbed by nervousness. This is not strange because he is young, but also promising. He could have had a better time, it would mean a lot to him, but I think that special attention should be paid to him and Jovana, who was close to her best result. I believe that they can reach the Olympic standard at the next Games", Simonović is clear.
"IT ANNOYS SOME, BUT IT HAS TO BE POWERED UP THAT THE BASE IS SMALL"
Montenegro has a small base in all sports - this is not an alibi, but a fact.
"We fought to have as many athletes as possible in the Olympic team, and everyone who came to the Olympics is a hero. Those who win a medal - super heroes. I can see that it annoys some people, but we have to strengthen our small base. So at the match with the United States of America, the longtime director of Olympic Solidarity, a former water polo player, was next to me Per Miro who wondered how it was possible for Montenegro to play against a team from a country with 300-400 million inhabitants compared to our few hundred thousand. This is a great value of Olympism and sports, and we always want to present Montenegro".
Boxer shorts Bojana Gojković, tennis player Danka Kovinic i Darko Pešić did not stay long at the Games.
"Danka was injured for a long time, she came to Paris and complied with everything she had to do. Pešić was also injured, and yet he did not compete in his discipline... Special attention should be paid to Bojana. She had a brave performance against the multiple world champion, with whom she also fought in the qualifications when a big storm arose in Indonesia. After that, we begged the International Olympic Committee, from which we were told that Bojana was no better than the boxer from Taipei, but that she would get a chance to perform at the Olympics. All this was a great experience for her. I believe that if he continues like this, he will have something to say and that at the next Games he will be one of our trump cards with a won norm and a better performance".
And what can be expected for the Olympic Games 2028...
"I expect that our Olympic team for Los Angeles will be much larger. Along with handball players who were in the game to go to Paris until the last moment, we also had basketball players. If there was a bit of sporting luck, we could have seen them in Paris... With the younger generation that had good results on the international stage, with careful and good work, with some things that I see happening on the club scene and on At the Federation level, I think we can have a good team in the fight for placement at the OI".
THE STATE OFFERS SOLUTIONS, IF IT STILL RESPECTS THEM
It is also expected that the state stands behind athletes in the true sense of the word.
"We heard a lot of things from representatives of the government and the government, the prime minister and the ministers for sports and finance. All that is planned should bring many benefits through amended certain legal solutions. Some have already been done, some are very close, and that would help the sport a lot", said Simonović and concluded:
"We need to recognize which sports can provide representatives - to concentrate on that and not have a wide variety. Of course, everyone wants to go to the Olympic Games, they have the right to do so, but those who can - we need to invest funds, knowledge and help young people realize their dreams".
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