Olympics » Olimpijada | 61 Miracles don’t happen in sport; sportingmiracles are created through hardwork The Olympic Games in Tokyo represent the light at the end of the tunnel and our competitors are asked only to do one thing - to give their all Božidar Maljković knows what it takes to achieve a top result in amajor competition. One of the most successful, trophy-winning basketball coaches, he has been helping our athletes in a new role since 2017 - as the president of the Olympic Committee of Serbia. “The task of the Olympic Committee of Serbia, and my task as its president, is to secure the best possible working conditions for our athletes, but also for living under such delicate circumstances as those that reign today. I think we are doing this very successfully. A synergy exists where it is most important, between the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Olympic Committee of Serbia and coaches and athletes. Never in my life, or in my coaching career, have I burdened players with irrational statements, rather I’ve sought to relax them ahead of major finals. And I don’t want to deviate from that practise this time either, in order to avoid placing that great weight around the necks of Olympians and their coaches. That's why I won't make any predictions.” Are athletes under increased pressure at the Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic? “The coronavirus has aggravated the work of our athletes, but also other athletes around the world. But great athletes and coaches live under constant pressure; that's part of our lives. Anyone who can't handle that pressure is incapable of competing in top sports. Top sport is a fierce battle in training, but also in competitions. Our athletes are handicapped by having not had enough qualifying tournaments andmatches, which is the vis major of our lives. In general, I don’t think any of the results achieved in Tokyo will be at the same levBOŽ I DAR MA L J KOV I Ć, PR ES I DENT OF T HE OLYMP I C COMM I T T E E OF SE R B I A Na kraju koliko svojim iskustvom možete da pomognete našim sportistima na velikom takmičenju kao što su OI? – Kada sam izabran na ovu funkciju, ljudi od velikog iskustva sumi rekli prostim rečima: „Hvala bogu da je jedan trener došao na tu poziciju.“ Svi koji su od mene tražili savet, dobili su ga tog istog dana. Uvek stojim na raspolaganju da svojim iskustvom pomognem, ne remeteći ničiji autoritet. Najbolji primer je slučaj Aleksandra Kukolja... – Tompametnommomku i velikom sportisti savetovao sam da promeni kategoriju. Medalja svetskog vicešampiona potvrda je da je za njega napravljena prava stvar. Pokazala je da je na dobrom putu. Naša zemlja je najviše profitirala i dobila još jednu medalju i još jednog predstavnika na Olimpijskim igrama u Tokiju. U Riju 2016. smo imali jednog džudistu koji nas je predstavljao, a u Tokiju će ih biti baremčetvoro. To je takođe dokaz dobrog rada. Uovom momentu dok razgovaramo, 72 sportista je kvalifikovano za Igre u Tokiju, a kako se Igre budu bližile, biće ih sve više.
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