This article is part of the special feature “20 Years of Montenegrin Sport”. The full publication is available at the link.
We were the first generation to represent the Montenegro men’s water polo team, and that was an enormous honour. Representing your own country can never be compared to playing for a club. It was truly a wonderful and unforgettable period, especially the European Championship in Malaga. Eighteen years have passed since that achievement, but its impact was extraordinary.
I was fortunate, honoured and privileged to have been part of the Olympic team that won the silver medal in 2004. Later, after winning Olympic gold and bronze, I had the opportunity to represent Montenegro. Although many did not expect much from us because we arrived in Spain as debutants, we reached the top of Europe. We had incredible energy, and I believe Malaga defined all of our careers. That is why every one of us remembers that European Championship with such pride.
It seems to me that sport was in a better position back then than it is today. Why that is the case is a question for the people leading our sports federations. Could things have been done better? That is another legitimate question.
We enjoyed early success across many sports – the women’s handball team, ourselves, the football team… There was tremendous momentum, and it was a wonderful period. I hope we will see something similar again. Afterwards, that momentum faded somewhat, and I believe we were all capable of achieving even more. But there is little value in asking “what if”. That is history now. What matters is that we should be proud, because in 2006 we were among the first ambassadors of Montenegrin sport. That generation, which had developed within the former state union and through the youth categories, despite coming from such a small talent pool, could perhaps have achieved even more. I also remember the first generation of footballers who went on to play across Europe. Today I see young players once again joining major clubs, including Partizan, and that makes me happy because it suggests that the cycle is starting again. Our players traditionally progressed through Budućnost before launching international careers. So the talent is there. Whether we are working well enough is a question for the experts, as are our realistic possibilities, our infrastructure and many other factors. There are countless elements involved.
The Olympic Games are the pinnacle of every sporting career, the greatest sporting event in the world. Simply qualifying, especially for a small country regardless of the size of its delegation, is already a major achievement. If you are also competitive, like our women’s handball team in London when they won a medal, that is an accomplishment beyond comparison. My generation came within one step of an Olympic medal. Whether things could have unfolded differently is easy to discuss afterwards. Clearly, we fell just short, despite coming very close in both Beijing and London. By Rio, I believe we had already passed our peak. During that final tournament, we were inconsistent, and we did not succeed. My generation had the misfortune of finishing fourth three times, but I hope another generation will do even better and finally bring an Olympic medal to Montenegrin water polo. Of course, I would like to see more medals across all sports, not only in water polo. I would love to see Montenegro winning four or five medals, despite being such a small country. To achieve that, I believe we need a stronger long-term strategy covering every sport. Whether we have the financial resources and infrastructure to support that is another question, and once again we return to the same fundamental issues.
Sport has given me medals, personal recognition and immense satisfaction. It shaped me, built my character and taught me how to respond when life became difficult. It allowed me to meet people from different cultures, build lasting friendships and experience all the other benefits that sport brings. I have no regrets. Perhaps I could have done some things differently. Perhaps I lost out on certain opportunities in sport, but other doors opened for me instead. Eventually you come to realise that everything happened as it was meant to, because those experiences led me towards other opportunities.
There is no formula for success in sport, and every new generation is different.
For example, many of the opportunities available today simply did not exist for my generation or those before us. However difficult things may seem at times, we must find new ways to motivate young people, because they are clearly inspired by different things than we were. We need to understand how they think and, to some extent, adapt to them. This is not only a challenge in Montenegro; it exists across much of Europe. Everyone is facing similar issues regarding young people. We simply have to adapt to the times we live in. And in sport, we all strive to reach the very top. That is what drives us, isn’t it?
