The best volleyball player in the world from his generation and a member of the Volleyball Hall of Fame, Vladimir Grbić, told young people at the Olympic Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Sarajevo Olympic Week, that the key to success in sports and life is maximum concentration and dedication to the goal.
Through experiences from his own playing career and work with young volleyball players at his own camps, Grbić conveyed clear messages to young people about the importance of focus, personal responsibility and daily progress, emphasizing that top results are built long-term and consistently.
“Don’t let other people’s limits and fears become your limits, you have wings and need to fly. Whatever you do in life, know that it will somehow affect other people, that’s why you try to make that impact positive,” said Grbić, who earlier during the festive opening of the festival, received the organizer’s award for life’s work and contribution to the development of Olympism.
“First you need to work on functionality, on health, and only then on the competition. When in the process of learning and growing up you don’t use your head but do things mechanically, don’t expect to know what you need to do in stressful situations,” stated Grbić.
Speaking about values that go beyond sports, Grbić particularly emphasized the importance of character, ethics and personal integrity, stressing that success has no meaning if it is not accompanied by responsibility towards oneself and others. According to him, young people today are exposed to numerous shortcuts and wrong role models, but it is in those moments that the choices they make define what kind of people, and leaders, they will become.
“Fraud is a way, and a lie is a means to reach the goal. Today, the most difficult thing is to be a man, and to be a champion, you have to be a man,” said Vladimir Grbić to the young people at the end.
Sarajevo Olympic Week, a ten-day festival dedicated to the promotion of sports, culture and Olympic values, will take place until February 15 at several locations in Sarajevo and Bjelašnica.
The central part of the festival is the series of talks “Olympic stories with…”, and after Martin Sinković and Vladimir Grbić, the series will be concluded on Tuesday, February 10 at 10:30 a.m. with a conversation with Dino Rado, the organizers announced.
