Marathon record has stood for almost 50 years: Sead Kondo trains young BiH athletes even in his eighth decade of life

(Patria) - Every morning, 73-year-old Sead Kondo trains young athletes at the "Safet Zajko" Center athletics track. A former athlete of Yugoslavia, and today "just" a coach who, due to health issues, is not allowed to run actively, he passes on his knowledge to young athletes.

Those who worked with him are now well-known names in the world of athletics: Alma Hrnjić, Emir Hastor, Alija Imamović, and many others.

When he ran a marathon (42 km) in 1975 in the German city of Karl Marx Stadt (today Chemnitz) in former East Germany with a time of 2:15:54, he never thought that this record would stand until today. He recalls that he took his first athletic steps in his native Pljevlja. His path would later lead him to Sarajevo. He also holds the current BiH record for 10,000 m with 29:29.80, set in Sarajevo in 1975.

In an interview with Patria, which we conducted on the athletics track while he was preparing 13-year-old Zinedin Vrabac for the upcoming State Athletics Championship in Tuzla in the 1000 meters race, he says he doesn't understand how no one has caught up or surpassed him to this day.

“I wasn't such a great talent that it couldn't be broken in 50 years. I only know that I was incredibly hardworking, responsible, training was everything to me, and I subordinated everything to it. I subordinated everything to athletics; whenever I ran, I wanted to be first. Sometimes I succeeded, sometimes I didn't, but I led the way in the former Yugoslavia,” says this living legend of athletics.

After completing his military service, he exclusively dedicated himself to athletics at the age of 21, although he had participated in competitions before and during his military service.

When he broke the Yugoslav record in Germany, he was 23.5 years old. Given that Yugoslavia has disintegrated, he still holds the record in BiH.

He points out that he is not satisfied with the development of athletics in BiH, and when asked what the biggest problem is, he says, "everything is weak."

He is pleased that people run recreationally today, and he himself very often observes recreational runners with a professional eye.

For years, he has been working with young athletes, preparing them for races. He warns and advises that the most important thing is to guide a child correctly, not to push them beyond their limits, which parents can sometimes overdo.

“A child comes at 10 years old and runs well. But you have to think about what will happen when they are 18. When a child burns out, they can't come back. Rest is more important than training; if you don't know when to allow it, you're finished,” Kondo told Patria.

(A.V.)