Montenegrin athletes have left this morning for Youth Olympic Games in China, which are scheduled to take place from 16 – 28 August in the city of Nanjing. Our participants were greeted at the airport by the President of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee, Dusan Simonovic. "I am convinced that these five young athletes will give us an impressive performance in Nanjing. At the previous Games in Singapore, Montenegrin athletes failed to secure a medal, but only just. I think that they are better prepared this time around, and we are hoping one, but do not pose it as an imperative. It is more important that our competitors show performances worthy of Montenegrin sport and the Montenegrin state, and the result will surely follow." said Simonovic. The President of Montenegrin Olympic Committee has given the state flag to judoist Arso Milic, to carry it at the opening ceremony of the Games. Apart from Milic, the Youth Olympic Games "Nanjing 2014" will also host our judoist Ivana Sunjevic, athlete Kristina Rakocevic, tennis player Pavle Rogan and Mario Gegaj in taekwondo. They are accompanied by coaches Marko Ristic (athletics), Zdravko Milic (judo), Balsa Milosevic (tennis) and Boris Budor (taekwondo). Head of the Montenegrin Mission in Nanjing is Predrag Marsenic, who is MOC's sports director. "The Youth Games will have around 3,800 participants in 28 Olympic sports. Event organiser has prepared 26 facilities for competitions and 12 for training purposes. The opening ceremony will take place on August 16th at 8pm local time. First Montenegrin athlete to compete is tennis player Pavle Rogan (17 August), followed by Arso Milic and Ivana Susnjevic (18 August), Kristina Rakocevic (19 and 23 August) and Mario Gegaj (21 August). I believe that any one of them could reach a medal, they are the future of our sport." said Predrag Marsenic. As announced by the MOC's President, Montenegrin expedition in Nanjing will be visited by the president of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic, who will be in China at the time of the Games. President Simonovic send his particular gratitude to the Airports of Montenegro, saying that they contributed to a "beautiful sports story". Our athletes, participants of the Games in Nanjing, have pointed out in unison that it is their honour and privilege to compete at the Youth Olympic Games. They claim that they are very prepared for the upcoming competition in China, and promise to give their finest performances in order to achieve best possible result.
