BH SPORT IN 2023: Medals as incidents, everything else at the level of unfulfilled promises

For Patria, sports 2023 is analyzed by Almir Sokolović, editor of the RadioSarajevo.ba portal

A year to forget. That's how I would describe the sports year 2023. Individually, we can only talk about the successes of Lana Pudar, the world swimming wonder from Mostar, and the brilliant boys Ismail Barlov and Ismail Zulfić.

Lana Pudar - the girl who kept Bosnia and Herzegovina on the international sports scene

And everything else has been reduced to attempts to put Bosnia and Herzegovina on the world sports map.

It's superfluous to waste words on the BiH football team. We suffered defeats and changed coaches like socks. Ivaylo Petev, Faruk Hadžibegić, Meho Kodro... the list of those dismissed is long, and only one person who deserved to leave remained - president Vico Zeljković.

We will find out very soon if he will be the gravedigger of BiH football in 2024 - in March, when the qualifiers for the Euro in Germany take place. We won't wait long. If we stumble against Ukraine - it's better for him to go. For the good of our football.

Ismail Zulfić - the golden boy

Basketball? BiH missed the final tournament of the Olympic qualifiers, which will be played next summer. The Dragons were considered favorites of the tournament, and Poland 'cooled us down' in the final. A failure.

It's superfluous to talk about the men's volleyball team. They won a medal and once again earned the title - pride of the nation. Gold again. European.

Handball? The handball national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina will play in the European Championship in Germany, which starts on January 10. How do they say it - watch the Euro, cheer for BiH!

As someone who has followed sports for 30 years, some things will never be clear. Politicians. They have failed a million times, and they failed in 2023.

They promised Lana Pudar a swimming pool. Nothing. They promised help to the Olympic Committee - again nothing. But when it came to taking pictures, they were the first.

Receptions and welcomes, some sponsorships, a few 'hundreds' of marks in the athletes' pockets, and the end of the story. As long as it stays that way, we will always be on the margins of success among the Western Balkan countries.

Kosovo, Montenegro, and even North Macedonia have overtaken us. I won't even mention Serbia and Croatia - they are a distant dream.

Someone will ask what to do in 2024 to make our sports better. With politicians like these, it's best to do nothing. Everything else is stress and humiliation.

Do basketball players have to beg for money to train for 7 days a year? Or, for example, the golden volleyball players who are remembered only once a year?

Who 'turned off the tap' with money, causing us to lag behind our neighbors and peers for years, is generally known. Shame on them.

Vico Zeljković - the head of BiH football, in a situation of 'colonel or deceased'

Some will say Paris is ahead of us and an opportunity for the first Olympic medal. Until systemic sports financing is introduced, everything will end like in Barcelona in 1992 - participation is what matters. Atlanta, Sydney, London... Paris... the list of appearances and defeats will only grow. With the conclusion - it will be better in four years. And the years pass, Bosnia and Herzegovina lags behind.

As long as it's like this, we will only be a sports 'incident' like Lana Pudar, who will be talked about for only two days when she wins a medal. Upon her return to BiH, there will be photo opportunities and - nothing. As if tomorrow doesn't exist.

Unfortunately!