Srbija - nacionalna revija - broj 54 - engleski - niska rezolucija

SLOBODAN BRANKOVIĆ, GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION OF
SERBIA, ON GREAT UPSWING OF SERBIAN ATHLETICS
On the Wings
of Results
For the breakthrough, it was necessary to reach the top results and medals at the major senior
competitions. Ivana Španović, Emir Bekrić, Asmir Kolašinac, Amela Terzić, Mihail Dudaš, Tatjana
Jelača... That is how attention of the state and the public was drawn, and the will collected for building
and restoration of infrastructure. This has been recognized in the European and World Federation,
major competitions are in sight, everything is continuing upward
By: Aleksa Komet
Ater the first competition held in the
newly opened athletic hall in Belgrade,
Slobodan Branković, Secretary
General of the Athletic Association of
Serbia, was gleaming with pleasure.
– This is the crown of the hardworking
hard five-year period, in which we
have done great work, primarily at preparing
the ground for realization of the
construction of athletic building, its promotion,
seeking understanding among
the people in charge, making the basic
plan, to the construction itself that began
in 2013. For many of us, the whole
process was both positive and unpleasant
experience, because we were faced with
something completely unexpected. Some
petty souls and weak characters were trying
to hamper and prevent us, in different
ways, mainly for personal reasons.
We were able to resist them, but a bitter
taste remained due to the discovery of
how many of us there are who are ready
to sacrifice general interests to our own
complexes.
When they were elected to the Athletic
Association, President Veselin Jevrosimović
and General Secretary Slobodan Branković
were faced with a deep divide in the organization.
– We did not want to drown in discord
and squabbles, but to work. We set clear
goals. The first was to achieve top results as
soon as possible, and that meant medals at
the major senior competitions. Until that
moment, we had sporadic good results on
the elite scene and a large number of successful
juniors. If someone wanted to mask
the real state of things, they would start
praising the juniors, deliberately keep-
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