From the special reporter "Vijesti"
Montenegro was not included in the list of countries that won a medal at the Olympic Games.
After Tokyo, and before Rio de Janeiro, it is clear that the silver handball player from London was a feat and a moment for history, and not an announcement of similar results.
In fact, anyone who understands sports and sports trends at all has long been clear about the reach of our best athletes in the strongest competition, among the "dominators", who prepare for the Olympics as best as they can, who all their sports results during the Olympics subordinates perform at the most important competition.
Simply put - every Montenegrin athlete who, as part of a team or as an individual, makes it to the Games, based on his performance, has achieved enormous success.
The fact that more is expected from water polo players and handball players is mainly a consequence of distorted reality and fan passions, which, in truth, the "sharks" and "lionesses", with their somewhat hasty and emotional announcements in the media, further stir up.
It's sportsmanship, of course, to believe, what kind of athlete is he who enters the competition and every next day satisfied with what happened yesterday or the day before yesterday. That cannot and should not happen in sports...
Repeating the story about the size of the country, the breadth of the base, the narrow selection of players - it is pointless, but the impression is that the sports authorities from the side perceive with much more respect and attention the fact that the country of 600 thousand and a half thousand inhabitants had 33 representatives in Tokyo, and that those who don't really know where and how big Montenegro is, react to that information with considerable surprise.
At the same time, they do not know, for example, that an entire team is composed of players from two cities with a total of about 50 inhabitants and, at the moment, one swimming pool in operation. Or that there is only one professional handball club in the whole country...
Be that as it may, water polo players and handball players will continue to fight in major competitions (handball players have the World Championship in December, water polo players the world and continental championships next year), they will continue to prepare for the attack on Paris, without guarantees that they will succeed.
And they will be in the focus of the Montenegrin public, praised and criticized, perhaps celebrated as heroes, and (unfortunately) perhaps belittled (not only) because of sports results.
They will continue to compete in clubs, they will continue, after all, to make a living from what they do professionally.
But what about the two true heroes of the Montenegrin representation in Tokyo? Where are they and what awaits them after the Games?
Marija Vuković i Milivoj Dukić.
Marija made a miracle, only four girls in the world jumped a higher height than her in the high jump final of the Olympic Games.
Milivoj achieved the feat by winning one of the 10 Olympic sailing regattas and by winning 17th place in the general ranking. That young man appeared at the Olympic Games for the third time in his career, each time based on his performance and effort...
Congratulation and praise, messages of support from the highest state addresses have been coming in, who have been competing to be the first and with what words to address our athletes after good results and success, which is becoming embarrassing.
Have state officials, above all those who for 30 years decided on everything, including sports, ever asked themselves where and under what conditions they train, how they live and how much Vuković and Dukić earn from their profession? Like many of their counterparts in individual sports?
Let them know - they cannot live from the sport they play, and when one day they stop doing what they love and know best, their problems in life will only begin.
If they didn't have scholarships, which are provided by the Montenegrin Olympic Committee through the International Olympic Committee (they are paid monthly, two years before the Games - $1.500), which often come to their aid, they wouldn't have it - maybe it's too harsh to say, but it's close truths - nor the basic conditions for life.
The story that there is not much money in Montenegrin sport is simply not true - it is known how our top club sport has been financed for years, even decades, and what kind of "contractual economy" is involved. And not only top-level, but also club sports that are at the lowest levels, like football. Isn't it a paradox that the monthly incomes of a large number of football players from Montenegrin clubs, Montenegrin Olympians from individual sports, and even our most prominent representatives, can only dream.
Perhaps their results in Tokyo will change the consciousness of those who invest money in (club) sports - formally in the form of sponsorships, but essentially acting as owners - to set aside at least a small part for those who are on the margins, but do great things. That would be too much for them.
Marija Vuković and Milivoj Dukić may never take a medal from the biggest competitions, the competition in their sports is terrifying, and their sports development was limited by the lack of systemic support.
That's why the state (why the state - because the sports budget is directly linked to the state) should recognize what the two did at the Olympic Games and guarantee them a stable life and sports path, but also a peaceful start to a "new" life when they finish their careers.
This would also send a message to the younger ones (Kristina Rakočević, Bojana Gojković...) to keep fighting and working on themselves, not to give up and not give up, because their efforts and their future Olympic performances will be appreciated and rewarded.
How - let a way be found. Whoever holds a grudge, let him hold a grudge. They deserved it.
Bonus video:
