We Need To Be in London, Says Serbia’s Olympic Sports Chief
London is on track to present a world-class Olympics, according to Serbia’s Olympic sports chief who toured the purpose-built venues and village at the new Olympic Park, last week. Venues, transport and infrastructure are working well, said Professor Branislav Jevtić, Chef de Mission of the Serbian Olympic Committee, who met with W!LD RooSTeRduring his visit to London.
Prof Jevtić joined the Serbian squad at the International Basketball Invitational, as part of the London Prepares test series. Serbia triumphed over Great Britain, Croatia and China, but lost to Australia and France in the inaugural event at the Olympic Basketball Arena.
As an example of London’s preparedness for the Olympics, last week’s international basketball test event was a triumph, said Prof Jevtić.
These events are an opportunity for teams to get a taste of what to expect from the London 2012 and help prepare athletes for the unique pressures of the games, Prof Jevtić said. Serbia will be sending athletes to all events.
“As Serbian Sports Director I initiated the decision to use all London Prepares test events as good training for the main Olympic period,’ said Prof Jevtić. “For each test competition we will send our qualifying athletes so that they can get familiar with the facilities here. That is very important for us. It would not be fair for only the GB team to be training here.
“We have fantastic players but we need to prepare as a team. Most of them play in the United States or Europe and they need time to adapt, have some conditioning as a team, which is very important before the Olympics. The London Prepares events are useful because they give teams the chance to get used to being with other countries, training under different conditions and even eating in restaurants with so many people.
“We expect to qualify in ten or more sports so we will come to all London Prepares events, including basketball, canoeing and waterpolo. We missed the tennis event but Wimbledon will be our test event for that. We have Djoković so I think we should be ok with tennis!”
London is not the only destination for Serbia’s elite athletes in the run-up to London 2012. Two Yorkshire cities are also playing their part in supporting the Serbian cause. Immediately after the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the Serbian Olympic Committee signed a formal agreement with civic leaders from Leeds and Sheffield to host training camps for around one hundred athletes. A delegation from Yorkshire also visited Belgrade to promote business links with the region.>
>Some Serbian Olympic hopefuls have already visited Leeds following the Beijing Olympics and athletes are expected to hold a further training camp on campus facilities in Leeds and Sheffield in the run up to London 2012.
“We plan to use Leeds and Sheffield for the athletics, the swimming and some other sports,’ said Prof Jevtić. “There is a big Serbian community in Sheffield and Leeds, so that is good for us but at the moment it is important for us to train in the Olympic facilities as much as possible. It is good for team motivation, too. We need to be in London. I feel very sorry for the people in Leeds and Sheffield but, for now, they need to feel part of the Olympics in London.”
While in London, Prof Jevtić also checked out the athlete’s accommodation in the Olympic Village, where facilities are coming along well. One issue to juggle with is where to house Serbia’s most prominent sportsman and Olympic flag-bearer Novak Djoković, said Prof Jevtić. “We need him to be seen by the Serbian athletes and the international athletes, so he will be staying in the village. But it presents a problem getting him to and from Wimbledon each day. We have to find a way to balance that. It’s a long journey from Stratford to Wimbledon.”
While the official Olympic set-up seems to be on schedule, some elements of the Serbian teams recent visit were not quite as reassuring, as Prof Jevtić explained: “When we arrived, the hotel decided to make a difference between the teams. They put all tables in a line with signs for GB, Serbia etc, but they only put white cloths on the tables for GB, not for any other teams. We told them that was not OK so today we all had table cloths.
“Then last night our team asked to spend some time in the gym and the competition management were surprised that we asked for that. So they organised some very strange place in a basement with two boxing rings. It was not very nice. It had strange smells, no air conditioning and there were a lot of people with tattoos. It was an unbelievable experience, not what we would expect, but I am sure it will be much better when it is organised by the management of the Olympic Games.”
The London 2012 Olympics will be the third summer games at which athletes have competed as Serbia and comes one hundred years since their first Olympic appearance in Stockholm in 1912. In 2008, they returned to the Summer Olympics as Serbia, following the split with Montenegro.
From 1920 to 1992 athletes participated under the flag of Yugoslavia. At the 1992 Summer Olympics they participated as Independent Olympic Participants, due to UN sanctions against Serbia. From 1996 to the Winter Olympics in 2006 they entered as Serbia and Montenegro.
No comments yet.
Be first to leave your comment!