"That's why it's important for the Bosnian team to be present with the Bosnian flag and Bosnian names," Filipovic said, "because we must fight for our place in the world." Related Sites
It's that image of determination that is driving Bosnia's athletes and filling the country with pride. "It's not every day that you get a refugee who is also a leading sportsman on your doorstep." I am glad that I coach him, because it's a unique situation," Furniss said. "When the guns went quiet, I started concentrating more on swimming."įred Furniss, Gojkovich's trainer, applauds the determination that has propelled his swimmer into world-class competition. "My training was really disrupted until September, when the peace deal was signed," Gojkovich said. He credits the Dayton peace accord for improving his performance over the past few months. Most of them were destroyed in the war, so the athletes are training abroad.īosnian swimmer Janko Gojkovich, for example, has set several Bosnian records while training in England. The team cannot even take advantage of the buildings left from Sarajevo's 1984 Winter Olympics. "But if you must fight for your home and you must fight in defense of your life, in that case you must buy weapons." "The best idea is investment in sports, for example, not weapons," said Izudin Filipovic of the Bosnian Olympic Committee. What money the Bosnian Olympic team does have is coming from donor countries. But she was already the Ladies World Champion in American Skeet four years before that. Most of the nation's money goes toward defense measures. She was was the youngest female gold medalist in shooting at just 17-years old. The 10-member Olympic team that will represent Bosnia in Atlanta this summer has little money for training. But just as he did what he considered his duty in defending his country in war, "this is my obligation and I have to do something in order to defend my country" for an Olympic medal, he said. "This is different - the rifles and everything," he said, explaining the contrast between being a sport sharpshooter and a wartime marksman. Falija, an Olympic marksman, is Bosnia's greatest hope for a medal. His sights, however, are no longer pointed at enemies now his gun is aimed at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNN) - Bosnian Nedzad Falija holds up his rifle and fires a shot that nails his target precisely.įalija, a policeman during Bosnia's war, knows what it is to fire a gun in anger.
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