Tomić: The history of our Paralympics was written in Paris

The Paralympic Games in Paris were historic for the Montenegrin Paralympic movement, said President Igor Tomic, stating that he was proud of the entire Paralympic team that represented Montenegro at that multi-sport competition.

He said that, after Tokyo 2021 and the first medal, they managed to repeat the same result at the Games in Paris.

"The journey from Tokyo to Paris was very difficult, and the qualification system for our athletes was never more difficult. For this reason, I can say that I am proud of the whole team. First of all, of the table tennis player Filip Radović, who withstood the pressure of the team leader and once again won bronze medal," said Tomic.

Speaking about Radović's result, he said that maybe everyone dreamed that he would take a step higher, because he came to Paris as the second player in the world.

"There are absolutely no complaints, considering that in the semifinals he had the incredible Chinese Lian Hao, who showed his full quality in the final match, in which he had three match points against the first favorite, the Polish Patrik Čojnovski," said Tomić.

He pointed out that it remains regrettable that Radović did not take advantage of his chances in the semi-finals.

"He had a chance, when in an almost lost situation in the fourth set and the result was 8:4 for his rival, he reached a turnaround (9:8). He had a 10:8 lead and a chance to win the fifth set. That's sport and that are some nuances that this time left Radović on the last step of the podium," said Tomi.

The president of POKCG repeated that Radović once again wrote the history of Montenegrin sports.

"I am also proud of the shooter Milan Đinović, a debutant at the Games in Paris, even though his results were below his reputation and expectations. Bearing in mind that it is his first time at the Paralympic Games, "hats off" and I am sure that he has a great cycle towards the Games. in Los Angeles," Tomic said.

He reminded that the Games in Paris were the first for Maja Rajković and that only six javelin throwers made it to the French capital in terms of competition.

"Rajković can be satisfied with that privilege, in front of a full Stadium Francuska and more than 70 thousand spectators in the moments when she threw the javelin", said the POK president.

He pointed out that the table tennis player Luka Bakić may have performed below the competition in his other Games, but that does not diminish his value.

"He managed to place himself among the 14 table tennis players in the world who reached the games in Paris. He was unlucky in the draw, in the direct elimination system, where in the round of XNUMX he ran into the great Japanese player Mahir Funajama in Paris," said Tomić.

Commenting on the success of the Paralympic team, he emphasized that Montenegro is among the 80 or so countries that won a medal in Paris.

"Almost a hundred countries were left without medals. That is the best indicator of this result," Tomić said and added:

"The whole team functioned as one family. Great recognition to our coaches and the POK office, led by the general secretary, to the head of the Paralympic mission in Paris, Miloš Ranitović. He brought the entire Paralympic process to a perfect end, especially the successful stay of the Montenegrin athletes in the Paralympic village for almost 15 days," Tomić said.

The Montenegrin delegation will return to Montenegro on Monday morning, via Vienna, and the arrival at the Podgorica airport is expected around 14:XNUMX p.m.