Bleacher Report - Articles by Dusan Vuksanovic

Serbia's Nadja Higl Ousts Rebecca Soni and Annamay Pierse at 200m Breast

Dusan Vuksanovic — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:48:29 -0400

I tuned in today to watch the world swimming championship in Rome with only one thing in mind - to see how my countryman, Milorad Cavic from Serbia, would swim his 100m buttefly semifinal race. Little did I expect to hear my national anthem being played for a girl that, completely out of the blue, won the world champion title at 200m breaststroke today.

Her name is Nadja Higl, a 22-year-old girl from Pancevo, a town that's about 30 minutes away from Serbia's capitol city, Belgrade.

Back in the day when I used to practice swimming, I would see her at meets. I don't recall ever being introduced to her, but I'm definitely positive that my sister socialized with her, since they both swam in the same age category.

I remember her father as well. He was a tall man with long hair always tied in a ponytial, and he worked as a swimming referee. He referreed many of the races I swam.

I knew that she qualified for the 200m breaststroke finals with fifth best time in the semis. But, I was absolutely not expecting to see her at the podium at all, much less her getting a gold medal.

The reason why is because of the competition she was going against was absolutely ferocious. In lane 5 was Rebecca Soni, a former world record holder and an Olympic gold medalist from Beijing at 200m breast. In lane 3, Mirna Jukic, an Olympic bronze medalist at 100m breast. And, in lane 4 was Annamay Pierse, a Canadian who broke the world record just a day earlier.

Nadja was in lane 2.

When the race started, I saw Soni break away from the pack, and was well ahead of Pierse's world record set the previous day. I saw Nadja struggle between fourth and fifth place, and I thought that's how it was going to stay for the rest of the race.

But then, something unbelievable happened in the last 50 meters.

At the 150-meter turn, Soni was ahead of the world record, and 2.5 seconds in front of Annamay Pierse. Nadja was in third.

I focused on the upper part of the screen, thinking that Soni was definitely going to be first, and I started cheering for Nadja, because she was fighting for silver. I stood up from my seat, and started yelling, "Come on! Come on! Come on!" in the rhythm that Nadja was taking her breaths.

In the last five meters, I saw that Jukic, Pierse, and Nadja were neck-to-neck, and didn't even pay attention to where Soni was. When Nadja touched the electronics at the finish line, I sighed, "She's second!" I honestly thought Soni had won.

But then, in a millisecond, my thought was corrected by the Italian director. The names that digitally pop out to show the victors to the TV viewers said - 1. Higl, 2. Pierse, 3. Jukic! Soni's name was nowhere to be seen. The only thing I said was, "This is a mistake. This can't be! What just happened?"

The camera zoomed in on Nadja, who herself couldn't believe that she's the new world champion, shyly hiding her face and shaking her head in disbelief. "Oh my God! She won! She WON!!! BRAVO!! BRAVO!!," I started screaming as I applauded this miraculous success.

"What the hell happened? HOW did this happen," I wondered as chills started going down my spine in overwhelming pride and joy that I felt for this young Serbian swimmer.

I laughed in happiness and awe as I was watching the instant replay of the last 15 meters and seeing HOW it all played out. Soni had pushed herself too hard and fell back in the last 10 meters of the race. Jukic-Pierse-Higl chased her down and overtook her literally two meters before the finish. Higl touched first, due to an amazing finish, followed by Pierse and Jukic. Soni was left without a medal - she was fourth.

I was, literally, at a loss of words. It took me a while to realize that Nadja had claimed gold for Serbia. A girl that I knew - a girl that my family knew - was the world champion! And, I was so damn proud!

When the medal ceremony came, I noticed that she was still perplexed by what had happened 15 minutes ago. She seemed very shy and humble while receiving her gold medal. I saluted her by standing in front of the TV, and singing the Serbian national anthem as the director was showing the details of her race, her face, and the rising flag.

And, even before the award ceremony, the person that I originally intended to watch, Milorad Cavic, made the finals by breaking Michael Phelps's world record, which was set several weeks before the championship. However, even that couldn't compare with the unbelievably strong impression Nadja's result left on me! Bravo, champ! Bravo!

It was truly an unforgettable night, and certainly a race I will never forget. A small, seemingly insignificant competitor beat the swimming giants. David slayed the Goliaths. Cinderella had her fairytale come true. Nadja Higl, world champion!

Open Mic: Why Alicia Sacramone Didn't Win the Bronze in Women's Vault

Dusan Vuksanovic — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:29:10 -0400

I watched a rerun of the gymnastics events on Sunday night with my dad and the women's vault was on.

When China's Fei Cheng finished her performance, I was outraged that she scored better than USA's Alicia Sacramone! In the end, Fei won the bronze, while Sacramone ended up in fourth place.

"An athlete fell on her knees and got bronze?! While the other one did an almost impeccable exercise?! Are you kidding me?" I yelled to my dad, who was also in disbelief.

At that point, I honestly thought that the referees were wholeheartedly supporting the Chinese gymnasts. I was convinced that something had gone wrong.

However, upon closer inspection, it turned out that the decision was fair.

Some of you may ask how this could be possible. Simple—the scoring was due to the toughness of the exercise

Before an athlete performs an exercise, she must check it in with the judging panel. Based on the type of exercise, the judges award a "toughness" grade. This is the grade Judge A listed when the scores come out.

Alicia Sacramone's exercises in the final event were awarded 6.3 and 5.8 toughness grades respectively. However, Fei Cheng's exercises were significantly harder—both had a grade of 6.5. That alone gave Cheng a significant advantage over Sacramone.

When Sacramone finished, the Judge B grades' were 9.450 and 9.525 respectively. When you combine that with Judge A grades', you get the actual scores for each exercise, which were 15.750 and 15.325.

Divide the actual scores by two, and you get the final score. For Sacramone, that was 15.537.

Now let's move onto Cheng. For her first exercise, she got a 9.575, which, combined with her Judge A grade, gave her a fabulous score of 16.025.

However, in the much-disputed second attempt, she fell on her knees during the landing, and thus improperly finished the exercise. For her mistake, she was heavily penalized by the Judge B panel, who only awarded her an 8.550.

That's almost a whole point lower than Sacramone. But, because the exercise was much tougher than Sacramone's, she got a 15.050 for her second score.

Cheng's final score was 15.562—0.025 better than the American

If you don't believe what I just wrote, check the final standings.

It's not that the judges favored certain athletes. The difference in scoring had to do with the toughness of the exercises.

Sacramone's exercises were a lot easier than Cheng's. Mystery solved!

Olympics Open Mic: How The Little Beat The Powerful

Dusan Vuksanovic — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:29:12 -0400

The Olympic Games are probably the only place where the entire world can watch a small and seemingly weak competitor beat its big and seemingly strong opponent.

Olympic history is full of such examples.

Spiridon Louis did it in the first Olympic marathon race in 1896. Jesse Owens did it to the Germans in 1936. The Soviet Union did it to the Americans in basketball in the 1988 semifinal, and later went on to beat Yugoslavia in the gold medal match. Anthony Nesty of Suriname did it to United States' Matt Biondi at 100 meters butterfly in Seoul.

The Sydney 2000 Games were no different. Its volleyball tournament will always be remembered after one nation that claimed gold against all odds—Yugoslavia.

The leaders Nikola and Vladimir Grbic, the superstar-on-the-rise Ivan Miljkovic, the server Goran Vujevic, and the coach who brought Yugoslav volleyball international stardom Zoran Gajic, were just some of the faces who sang Yugoslavia’s national anthem Hej, Sloveni (Hey, Slavs) on October 1 in Australia.

In the finals, the Yugoslavs obliterated the Russians in three straight sets—25:22, 25:22, and 25:20. Miljkovic, who scored the last point, dropped on his knees at the end to thank God for the golden moment. Vladimir Grbic waved the Blue, White, and Red flag and screamed on top of his lungs, “This is what we fight for!”

On that early Tuesday morning in Yugoslavia, the entire country was up on its feet.

However, though a gold medal itself was a tremendous feat, the road which the Yugoslavs had to overcome was even more admirable.

In 1999, the entire country had been bombarded by NATO airplanes from March 24 until June 10. The strikes were supposed to prevent further escalation of violence in the region of Kosovo. The estimated damage Yugoslavia suffered ranged from $20 to $100 billion. The country’s infrastructure had been completely destroyed, and its economy had come to a halt.

Yugoslavia withdrew its players from the volleyball World League in 1999 due to the crisis. However, they managed to take part at the European Volleyball Championship in Austria in September, where they won bronze behind Italy and Russia.

The year 2000 was a hallmark year in Yugoslavia’s politics due to national presidential elections. At the time, the country had been torn apart between the communist leader Slobodan Milosevic and the democratic candidate Vojislav Kostunica.

September was the month set for the elections, and the nation’s eyes were focused as much on that as they were on the Sydney Olympics. Milosevic’s victory would bring another four years of isolation, while Kostunica’s would lead to the much needed economic reforms and help from abroad.

Weeks before the elections, police were beating the citizens who were protesting Milosevic, or who simply had a different opinion on issues from the leader. People feared the future. The country was ruled by chaos.

The Olympic Games were seen as a way to shift the focus from the harsh, mundane reality.

Going into the Olympic year, Yugoslav volleyball team represented a venerable opponent. They were the reigning world vice champions from the 1998 Championships, and bronze medalists from the 1999 European Championship and the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

Two months before the start of the Olympics, Yugoslavia was fourth at the Final Six World League tournament in the Netherlands. Ahead of them were Italy, Russia, and Brazil, while the Netherlands and the USA finished fifth and sixth.

Despite their biggest success in the World League to that point, very few people believed that they could win the Games, simply because they had never won a major tournament, and the country had been through a lot of turmoil for the past two years.

When Sydney Olympics started, it seemed that the Yugoslavs would quickly go down in flames. In their first game, they lost to Russia 1-3, although they won the first set 25-19. Then Italy beat them two days later 2-3 after a nerve-racking 20-22 fifth set.

At the beginning of the third round, they were at the bottom of the group, and in a spot to play against either the reigning Olympic champions the Netherlands or the fierce Brazil, who was thirsty to reclaim the gold won in 1992.

However, the Yugoslavs still had to beat at least two teams from their Group B in order to secure the spot in the quarterfinals.

The games against the United States and Argentina were won 3-0 and 3-1 respectively, and the playoffs were secured. The last group match against South Korea showed a lot of insecurity amongst the Yugoslavs, but taking into consideration that coach Gajic rested his most important players, the hard(ly)-earned 3-2 victory wasn’t much a surprise.

What the Yugoslavs did from the quarterfinals on was a true example of determination, devotion, and desire to give their absolute best to the audience at the Games and to a country they represented.

Finishing third in the group, they were faced against the Netherlands in the next round. The Dutch were the defending Olympic champions, and a team against whom the Yugoslavs always lost at major competitions. The biggest, and probably the most unfair loss, was that at the 1997 European Championship final in Rotterdam, when the Dutch, aided by a few bad referee calls, were able to win the title 3-1.

This time, it was going to be different.

After a five-set, 226-point game, the Olympic champion was brought down on its knees 3-2 (25-21, 18-25, 25-18, 30-32, 17-15). Thanks to relentless block and unbelievable play in the field and on the serve, the Yugoslavs marched on to face the Italians in the semis.

This was the second time in a row that Yugoslavia eliminated a reigning Olympic champion in the quarterfinals, having beaten Brazil four years earlier in Atlanta.

In the 1990s, the Italian national team was considered to be the best team that has ever played volleyball. From 1989 until 2000, they had won eight World League, four European, and three World Championship titles.

However, they have never succeeded to win a gold Olympic medal. In 1996, they lost the final to the Netherlands, and 2000 was considered to be their turn to climb the highest podium spot.

But, it wasn’t meant to be.

The underdogs proved from the start that their loss in the second match of the group stage belonged to the past. Andrija Geric’s blocks, Vujevic’s serves, Nikola Grbic’s set-ups, Miljkovic’s spikes, and Vladimir Grbic’s leadership completely demoralized the reigning World, European, and World League champions in the first two sets. The Yugoslavs came back from behind in both of those, and won them 27-25 and 34-32 respectively.

The Italians, powerless to do anything, watched their heated opponents kill the balls one after another in the third set, ending the game in a 25-14 blowout. Yugoslavia was going to be playing for the gold against the Russians.

At the time, Russian volleyball was on the rise. They didn’t win recent European or World Championship medals, and their best result was a World League silver medal two months before the Olympics. Russia and Yugoslavia played in Atlanta four years before in the bronze medal match, and Yugoslavia won 3-1.

For the first time in Sydney, Yugoslavia was given even chances of winning the Olympics as their opponents.

However, in that October 1 final, only one team existed on the field—Yugoslavia.

The Yugoslavs were able to recover almost every ball, were able to spike almost every ball, and were able to block almost any attacks the Russians had prepared.

In spite of bad set beginnings, thanks to the tandem Vladimir Grbic-Miljkovic, the Yugoslavs were leading 2-0 after only 46 minutes of play. Similarly to the Italians two days before, the Russian had started to feel the pressure. However, it had been too much for them to handle.

One could say that the game ended when the second technical time-out was called.

With the score 15-12 for Yugoslavia, Roman Iakovlev served a 113 km/h (70 mph) rocket. It hit one of the defensive players, and was going out of bounds.

Vladimir Grbic jumped over the commercials to return the ball into play. The Russians had a counter-attack. The ball was set for Iakovlev. In the meantime, Grbic came back on the field. Iakovlev spiked. Grbic BLOCKED!!!

16-12 Yugoslavia!

The entire Yugoslav bench jumped on its feet, as if though it was all over! But, they settled down and went on a well deserved break. Their thoughts were focused on only one thing—how to win nine points more.

The last point, the one before Grbic started waving the flag, came from the youngest player on the team, and who is still one of the best players in the world—Ivan Miljkovic.

Guerassimov served the ball! Vladimir Grbic absorbed it. Nikola set to Vladimir, but the ball was blocked. Defense picked it up, Nikola back set to Miljkovic on the right. Miljkovic spiked it diagonally! It’s all over!!!

It was all over!

Zoran Gajic threw his papers in the air, Miljkovic dropped down on his knees, Vladimir went to pick up the flag, the Grbic brothers embraced, and the entire country celebrated a gold medal. In what was probably the shortest volleyball final in the Olympic tournament history (lasted only 68 minutes), Yugoslavia claimed the gold that October 1!

That was the last time the world heard the anthem Hej, Sloveni play at the Olympics. The players returned to their politically-torn country as mere passengers, not as nation’s heroes. There was no reception in front of the National Parliament in Belgrade, like the custom had been in the years past. Instead, the nation flooded the streets to protest the elections and demand the communist president to admit the loss.

However, the unjust reception was corrected in 2001. The volleyball players got one worthy of gods after winning a gold medal at the European Championship in Czech Republic. The nation took to the streets once again, but this time, to welcome their heroes back home.

Thus Yugoslavia, like so many other before it, earned the golden medal at the Olympics.

The 2000 Games will forever remember a country which, despite war, political crises, economic struggles, and odds, managed to chisel its name in the history of the Olympics—a nation that conquered the Olympus in Sydney!

Note: If you'd like to take a look at the last six minutes of that 2000 Olympic final, you can do that here. Also, the block that was made by Vladimir Grbic can be viewed here.

Top Five Basketball Teams at 2008 Beijing Olympics

Dusan Vuksanovic — Tue, 06 May 2008 09:50:48 -0400

Basketball at the Beijing Olympics will definitely be a sport to watch out for. With China eager to prove itself in front of the home crowd, the United States sending its best NBA players, and Argentina looking to defend the 2004 gold medal, the competition will be fiercer than ever!

However, as all of us know, the medal podium can only have three teams on it. I consider the following five teams to be the strongest contenders for one of the medals.

1) Argentina: Defending Olympic Champions

The Argentines know how to play tough games at the Olympics. In Athens 2004 opener, they beat Serbia and Montenegro 83-82 at the buzzer. They lost to Italy 75-76 in a group match, only to come back and destroy them in the finals 84-69; and they were victorious against the United States in the semifinals 89-81. In addition, with players such as Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto leading the team, one can be sure that they will get far in the competition.

2) Spain: Current World Champions

The Spaniards dominated the 2006 World Championship in Japan. The only team who came close to defeating them was Argentina in the semifinal (75-74), but in every other game the closest anyone got was 10 (Angola).

Moreover, the Spaniards have only lost two games in the past two years at major tournaments combined (2006 in Japan and then2007 European Championship). The teams who defeated them were Russia and Croatia, with Croatia still having to qualify for the Olympic tournament.

As for the players, the leaders for the Spaniards will certainly be Jose Calderon, Jorge Garbajosa, and Pau Gasol. The trio might turn out to be the most dangerous one we will see on the court.

3) Lithuania: All about team play

With Lithuania, one doesn’t know where the danger is going to come from. They have an incredibly long bench, and their focus is on team play rather than on the individuals. These two factors were the main reasons why they were first at 2005 European Championships, and third in 2007.

Furthermore, ever since 1992, when they started competing as an independent country at the Olympics, the Lithuanians have always made at least the semifinals. They currently hold three bronze medals (1992, 1996, 2000), and one fourth place (2004).

4) United States of America: Dream Team Revisited

Does anybody recall basketball at the 1992 Olympics with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Karl Malone et al.? Do you remember that the United States beat their opponents by 43.75 points on average? Do you know that Croatia played the “closest” game against the USA at those Games, and ended up losing to the Dream Team 117-85 in the final game? Gosh, wasn’t that the most boring Olympic basketball tournament ever?

But, that was 16 years ago. Now, we will get to see a new lineup, and a new Dream Team in its struggle for the gold in Beijing. It would be redundant to praise the skills of players such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, and the likes because we all know what these guys are capable of.

The United States hasn’t won a gold medal at major tournaments since the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and they are thirsty to reclaim the title of world's best. Will the NBA All-Stars live up (and, play up) to the task? Personally, I can’t wait to see!

5) China: Home Advantage

Chinese basketball has advanced tremendously in the past four years. They made themselves heard at 2004 Athens Olympics, when they defeated Serbia and Montenegro 67-66 in their last group game to advance to the quarterfinals. In 2006 in Japan, they were amongst top 16 teams in the world.

Although they have never won a medal at the Olympic Games, with home court on their side, and several very talented players (Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, just to name a few), China will be a serious contender for top placement in the tournament.

Beijing Olympics: to Protest or Not to Protest

Dusan Vuksanovic — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:41:39 -0400

With less than 100 days before the Beijing Olympics begin, many wonder whether or not US athletes should protest China’s poor human rights records in Tibet, Burma/Myanmar, and Darfur.

Though the issue of “to protest or not to protest” can be argued from both sides, my opinion is that we should not protest, and I hold this opinion for three reasons.

The first and foremost reason is that the Olympic Charter’s Rule 51 states that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious, or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues, or other areas.”

Not respecting this rule may result in disqualification from further competition, according to the by-laws set forth in the Charter. I would hate to see people removed from the Games in such an unsportsmanlike way.

Of course, it will be up to the athletes to decide if they want to adhere to this rule or not. But one needs to realize that the rule has been enforced at prior Olympics, so there is no reason to think that the Beijing Olympics will be any different.

In 1968 United States’ runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos were banned from further competition at the Games after raising black-gloved fists and bowing their heads during the 200-meter medal ceremony. This was an act of protest against the oppression of African Americans.

The most recent example of political propaganda disqualification came in March 2008 with Milorad Cavic, a swimmer from Serbia.

Cavic was disqualified for wearing a T-shirt that said “Kosovo is Serbia” on the medal podium after winning the gold medal in 50-meter butterfly at European Championship in Eindhoven, Holland. The T-shirt alluded to Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia, an act that a majority of the Serbian population considers illegal.

Though Cavic’s removal from the competition was affiliated with the European Swimming League (LEN) and not the International Olympic Committee, the example proves that international sports federations are determined to detach politics from sports.

The second reason concerns the potential economic consequences that a protest against the Chinese government might bring to the US.

The Chinese are well aware that the US owes them approximately $2 trillion. They also know that the US imports more products from them than from any other country in the world, accounting for $321.5 billion.

Finally, China knows that economy is currently the United States’ “Achilles' heel,” as the dollar declines and the price of gas soars in international markets.

Taking into consideration these facts, and noting that the Chinese posses great respect for their nation and their government, it is my guess that the economic relations between the two countries will be the first to suffer if the Chinese become upset with the United States.

And, at this moment, economic stability is a major concern for America.

Finally, the third reason is the fact that there are other ways for athletes to protest China’s poor human rights performance.

Take the 1936 Jesse Owens story as an example. Instead of openly demonstrating against the German regime at the time, Owens simply went to Berlin, won four gold medals, broke three Olympic records in the process, and proved the Nazi ideology wrong through his athletic endeavors.

Why can’t these same endeavors, which define what the Olympics are all about, be used in Beijing to prove a point about human rights?

Moreover, at other times when politics were openly protested through sports it ruined the spirit of the Games, especially during the 1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. It shattered the dreams of many Olympians who wanted to take part in the competition.

I highly doubt that any athlete or any country benefited from not sending their finest men and women to represent their people (not regimes or political ideologies) in the best way possible.

Being an Olympian is a job that has many responsibilities. Aside from making sure that his or her country is represented at its finest, an Olympian also needs to respect the Olympic Charter.

In addition, an Olympian needs to be aware that his or her actions might backfire—on him or herself, or on the nation.

Finally, an Olympian’s best arguments lie in his or her physical and mental fitness—not in political opinions.

Therefore, I hold that protesting against the Chinese human rights record at the Beijing Games will not result in any good for anybody—not for the US Olympians, nor for the people they represent.