Drasko Brguljan is a symbol of Montenegrin water polo, sports and Olympism. He and Aleksandar Ivović are the only our athletes who have performed at all the Olympic Games since Montenegro became part of the Olympic movement. Draško is still a member of the water polo selection at the age of 39, and could be in Paris for the fifth time this summer at the biggest sports event.
For the Olympic magazine of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee, he shared his memories of Beijing, London, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo - 13 years of Olympic dreams.
Beijing 2008
The very placement at the Olympic Games was a phenomenal success, even though at that moment we were the current champions of Europe. I was the youngest at the time, and it was difficult to get into the team going to Beijing.
And when I already succeeded in that - the moment of arriving in Beijing and entering the Olympic village is the best possible feeling that an athlete can experience. In those moments, I really thought: "Everything was worth it, you earned this with your work." You made it..."
I won medals at major competitions, those are unforgettable achievements, but the Olympics are something special. Even when it's the first time, and in Beijing...
I remember the Games for the spectacular opening ceremony at the glittering "Bird's Nest" stadium. They did not succeed in such a visual performance, and it seems to me that they could not surpass the organizers in London, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
It took me three or four days to adjust, to understand where I am, that I am among the best in the world. How fascinated I was can be seen in the detail from the bus while we were waiting to go to the opening. I saw through the window Dirk Novicki, a basketball superstar. I stared at him for who knows how long, literally as if hypnotized, which he noticed and at one point waved at me with a smile. And I am to him.
My satisfaction and pride in being a part of the Olympic story was further increased by the fact that I was not only a participant, but came with my teammates to fight for a high ranking and a medal.
In terms of results, it was the first of our three tied semi-finals. The euphoria was never greater, because we were European champions, there were never such expectations...
We were very close to a medal, in that semi-final against Hungary we had a three-goal advantage, they caught up with us, and they gave us the winning goal from an action that we knew they were going to play, for which we were preparing, but we didn't we could have prevented it. He judged their enormous quality. If we had made it to the finals, I am sure we would have won the gold as well, if the USA selection, although excellent, could not have stopped us. This way, we lost the semi-final that we could have won, and then the match for third place against Serbia...
London 2012
In London, I think we had the strongest team in history. We had a lot of competition, on the last day they dropped from the list Filip Klikovac, Milan Tičić i Nikola Vukcevic, top players, which tells what the squad that was chosen to perform at the other Games was like.
We started with a loss to the USA and then picked up a rhythm. We beat Hungary, then routinely Spain, and in the semi-finals we lost to Croatia, which was better and the best at that moment. She had a phenomenal competition, from the first game to the last, everything she did was well deserved.
That match for 3rd place will be remembered for a long time. We played excellently for three and a half quarters, controlled the game against Serbia, could have solved it earlier.
However, we inexplicably conceded in the last three or four minutes, and Serbia showed how big a team they are. We were close again, and again we fell short. It's a sport. Such things happen, both before and after that match we won some games from a big deficit, we lost some despite having the advantage. Of course it was difficult for us, we were aware of what we had left out...
If Beijing was glamorous in terms of openness and infrastructure, London was unrivaled when it came to organization.
The accommodation in the village was superb, the rooms comfortable and cozy, the beds as they should be, which was not exactly the case later, in Rio and Tokyo, we had a TV in every room, the food was of high quality and varied... The village was in within the Olympic Park, numerous arenas were close by, everything really worked flawlessly. I think London has set standards in the organizational part that will be difficult to reach.
The British knew that they could not match Beijing with glamor and visual effects, but they adapted the opening ceremony to their history and peculiarities, while the closing of the Games was a brilliant show - a real pop-rock concert, with numerous stars of the British and world music scene - they were George Michael, Elton John, a tribute to the group "Kvin", "Spajs girls"... Spontaneous fun, just the ultimate pleasure, where we forgot at least a little about that defeat in the battle for bronze.
Rio de Janeiro 2016
I was already an Olympic veteran, my third OI - and I have the impression that the Games were too much for Brazil. It was pretty sloppy in every way.
Accommodation in the village - below par, although no one is really looking for anything special, no luxury, but some basic things are not respected either. There were also unpleasant situations, personal belongings disappeared from the rooms, even money, we know of at least one case, and there were many, as far as we have heard.
The transport to the training places and even to the matches was quite disorganized, the food was far below what we had in Beijing, and especially in London.
The open pool where we played the group stage was also a curiosity - the water was green, some algae appeared I guess. It was all strange, but that's how it started, how it ended, although maybe there was that Brazilian flair, some relaxation and the "we'll do it easy" attitude. Finally, it is nice that the Games were held in South America for the first time.
We reached the semi-finals again, the third time in a row, but I think that this time we had nothing to regret and we couldn't have done more. Quite simply, Serbia, Croatia and Italy were better.
We played a great match in the quarter-finals, we eliminated Hungary, which, I believe, was the only one that could threaten Serbia. We won by five, the Hungarians were in shock because of the defeat. They cried after the match, they didn't expect us to be able to stop them.
We wore ourselves down a lot there, several players played the whole tournament, and the Olympics need 13 top players.
Croatia was much better in the semi-finals, we were in the game against Italy for the third place, somehow we managed to come back from the deficit, and then Aicardi gave us a goal and they separated.
Tokyo 2020.
It's hard to describe those Games, in fact I'd rather forget I was there at all, except for being with Jovanko Radicevic carried our flag at the opening ceremony, unfortunately - in an empty stadium.
I don't think they should have been held in those conditions - covid restrictions, isolation, masks, daily tests, forbidden to leave the village... Those who are positive go into complete isolation, in some containers. Fortunately, no one from our team got infected, that's the only positive.
And of course, empty stands. We're playing at a pool that holds about 10 people, but there's no one anywhere - really gloomy.
For the first time, we were far from the semi-finals. We were completely out of shape, tired, not competitive. Quarterfinals, and that's it... The only good thing is that something was learned from that. Anyway, Tokyo - it didn't happen again, not much to tell.
Paris - yes or no
I'm missing an Olympic medal, that's clear, but I can't regret anything. I am proud of all my teammates, it was a great pleasure to be part of our Olympic teams with them.
In every match, we gave our maximum at that moment. Sometimes it was enough to win, sometimes it wasn't. We have reason to regret some missed chances, but we always gave our best. I, for one, regret that we didn't become world champions in Barcelona in 2013, because we beat teams that were better than us, Italy and Serbia, in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, and lost to Hungary in the final, which we were better than, than because of the Olympic medal .
As for Paris - I'm thinking about it. If someone asked me at this moment, they don't know what I would answer, because I'm too tired. I played a lot for Primorac this season, in all competitions, along with training, traveling... It exhausted me.
I will see everything until the beginning of June, when preparations begin, which are long. I don't want to come tired and take someone's place. There are 13 and not 15 players going to the Olympic Games, there are no rotations and rest, every match is full rhythm.
I know that I would become the only Montenegrin athlete with five appearances at the Olympic Games, but for me it does not mean going to Paris to tell someone or to tell someone that I have five appearances at the Games, to take pictures there and I don't know what else. It would mean for me to go to the competition to give my best, as every time so far.
Bonus video:
