"Young veteran", Majda's third Games: I know very well how difficult it is to win a medal

From the special reporter "Vijesti"

The Olympic Village is slowly coming to life, 18 high-rise buildings in the Tokyo suburb of Harumi, receive guests from all over the world.

Montenegrin handball players have been there since last night, including Olympic veteran Majda Mehmedović.

"Let her be a young veteran," says 31-year-old Majda, who was an important part of the team that won the silver Olympic medal in London.

Nine years later, and after the experience in Rio, which was not nearly as nice as in London, Majda Mehmedović is one of the leaders of the new selection.

And she likes the role played by selector Bojana Popović and her first assistant Maja Savić at the Olympic premiere of the Montenegrin national team.

"I am glad that I have the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games for the third time. Jovanka Radičević, Marina Rajčić and I have been through all this twice already and we need to be leaders, to help the younger girls to cope with the euphoria, to adapt to a special competition such as the Olympic Games," Mehmedović points out.

It's been a long time since London, and even from Rio, to Tokyo, as many as nine "lionesses" are making their debut at the Olympic Games.

As soon as he gets to the top 12, the expectations are that he can do more...

“London and Tokyo? It cannot be compared. We have a much younger team, first of all. Of course, when you get to the Games, when you enter that narrow circle of the best, everyone dreams of even bigger things. I know from experience how difficult it is to win a medal, what we went through to get it in London. , to fight, everyone who comes dreams of a medal. It is up to us to do our best, we will see how long it will be enough for...".

In major competitions, the quarter-finals are the first goal, in London, Montenegro reached the eight with victories over the hosts Great Britain and Angola, and then through the superpowers of France and Spain to the finals...

"I think we have the sporting audacity, but not the experience to calculate. This team has played some big games and had some big wins, we have a good defense, we have a big heart. Everyone who played against us had a problem. I am sure that it will be like that in Tokyo, that we will make life miserable for everyone, that everyone will have to work really hard to show that they are possibly better than us", concluded Majda Mehmedović.

The most important thing is that the Games take place

The Olympic Games are a special competition, and the Tokyo Games are so special that they are unlike any other. It's clear why - the coronavirus has changed the image of sports, tests and health checks will be the daily routine of all competitors, and the fight for the best placement, the best results, and ultimately for medals will be fought without fans.

"We are used to playing without an audience, we also had the European Championship in such conditions. It's hard, but that's how it is. I think the most important thing is that the Olympic Games take place at all, even though we waited a year longer, because our careers, as well as the careers of all athletes who have earned the right to participate, would not be complete without the Games."