Olympics: Hungary is the region's best performing nation

At the Tokyo Games, which ended just over a month ago and was almost canceled, but then delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Hungary has once again proved that it is the best performing nation in the region. It finished 15th in the medal table with 6 gold, 7 silver, and 7 bronze medals as well as ten fourth, nine fifth, and three sixth places in Tokyo. The performance of the Hungarian delegation is excellent, especially when compared to the neighboring countries.

Hungary also surpassed Poland (its population is almost four times of Hungary) three times in the last four games – as our second infographic shows. Hungary is indeed a sports nation, since the weaker performance in 2008, Hungary's Olympic achievements show relative stability that also indicates the strength of Hungarian sport and which the neighbors look at enviously. Serbia and Croatia have said this, and, even if only implicitly, other nations in the region are also exemplifying Hungarians.

Serbia: Šurda is also summoned by the water polo players

The Serbian Olympic team took seriously the tip of US news agency AP, which predicted nine medals for them, as they won exactly that many (3–1–5) in Tokyo. However, they went beyond AP's prediction because there were actually three golds, instead of the predicted two. In addition to the defending champion men's water polo players that won in 2016 as well, taekwondo athlete Milica Mandić and karateka Jovana Preković stood on the top of the podium.

At the same time, the semifinal defeat of Novak Djokovic caused anger to some. He was put down as a gold medalist at the Olympics, but the world number one, who has won three Grand Slam tournaments so far this year, did not even get the bronze medal, which not many people thought of. The losing match for third place was quite a hit for Djokovic, who immediately indicated that he would not play in mixed doubles in the semifinals. This move even angered the desperate fans as it was a very unsportsmanlike move against his partner, Nina Stoyanović.

Instead of Djokovic, the men's water polo players became the stars of the Serbian Olympic delegation: before the tournament, six players – Stefan Mitrović, Filip Filipović, Andrija Prlainović, Duško and Pijetlović, and Milan Aleksić – were also known to be in the national team for the last time. This, in turn, unleashed energy in the players that even they might not have expected, making the farewell unforgettable with another gold medal. The most touching moment was when, at the end of the press conference in Belgrade, under the leadership of Stefan Mitrović, the team sang the theme song of the comedy series Hot Wind, "A sad adio” (And Now Goodbye). It was heartbreaking to see that the great warriors, such as the best player of the tournament Filip Filipović burst into tears, and the way coach Dejan Savić buried his face in the palm of his hand. Šurda was no bigger hero than them.

"If we look at the number of medals, we were tied for fourth in the region in London. But in Tokyo, we were only overtaken by Hungary," said President Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia, who added that Hungary is a true sports nation that spends a lot of money on infrastructure, and Serbia will also try to follow this path.

Croatia: disappointment in team sports

Croatia has participated in the Games with the smallest number of Olympic athletes (60) since 1992, and won 3 gold, 3 silver, and 2 bronze medals, a total of eight podium finishes, finishing 26th on the medal table.

Zlatko Mateša, president of the Croatian Olympic Committee, must have been nervous before the Olympic Games as one of his compatriots was quarantined in the men's slalom canoe just before the start. However, the Martin Sinković-Valent Sinković pair in rowing and Matea Jelić in taekwondo won gold. In addition, the Olympic success of Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić who had won the doubles in Wimbledon weeks earlier is considered a historic win in Croatia.

At the same time, Croatia that competed in 15 sports is saddened that their performance in team sports was a disaster, and they didn't win a single medal. Coach pope Ratko Rudić, who is the head coach of the water polo players, was not dissatisfied with their fifth place. He also specifically mentioned the sports culture of the Hungarians, saying, with noble simplicity, that he admired it.

Croatia won 10 medals in Rio in 2016, but there is now a generational shift in several sports, especially in team sports, and they hope that by Paris 2024, the trio of handball, basketball, and water polo will be able to fight for medals again. The state needs to change its approach to raising awareness of the importance of sports at school – several commentaries state.

Slovenia: Every medal is an experience

For example, Slovenia welcomed the Olympics with Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar. Then, Primož Roglič won the gold so important to them in cycling, but not in the road race, but in the individual time trial. Slalom canoeist Benjamin Savšek and women's sport climber Janja Garnbret also brought home the brightest medal. The five medals won overall were enough for 31st place on the medal table. The men's basketball team also traveled to Japan as potential medalists, but one of the tournament's biggest stars, NBA forward of Dallas Mavericks Luka Dončić, was able to lead the team to fourth place “only” in a way that the basketball players of the state of two million people lost to France by a single point in the semifinals... However, Slovenia is aware of its place in the sports world, so every medal is an experience at the Summer Olympics.

Slovakia: Prominent adventurers

Slovakia won four medals at the Tokyo Games, just like five years ago in Rio. However, 41 athletes, ten less than in 2016, made up the delegation in Japan, which is a historic low.

Zuzana Rehák-Štefečeková won gold in sports shooting, slalom canoeist Jakub Grigar and Roy Sabbatini, a golfer who became a Slovak citizen two years ago, finished second. The men's K-4 won the bronze medal.

Anton Siekel, president of the Slovak Olympic Committee, was pleased with the results: "There were athletes who fell short of expectations, but I liked that no one looked for excuses. Instead, they looked into the future."

One of the biggest disappointments for Slovakia was in athletics. In 2016, Matej Tóth became an Olympic champion in the 50 km race walk, and Marcel Lomnický finished fifth in hammer throw. Now, however, the best result was achieved by the aforementioned Tóth (14th place) and Emma Zapletalová in 400m hurdles (15th place), which is far from the same level...

Slovakia's next big concern is the generational change. There are two exceptions where there are many talented young people – in canoe and slalom canoe. The head coach of the athletics team, who has been harshly criticizing the authorities, says that it's time for the right people to start managing sports after 30 years...

"There are always some adventurers who are the smartest and know everything: this is probably the reason why Slovak sport has been falling into the abyss for three decades," said Martin Pupis.  "There are a lot of sports-related campaign films running, but it seems that the authorities have forgotten that elite sports require mainly sports facilities and not PR and marketing. It's not worth anything if there's no one to send to the Olympics.”

Compilation by: Zoltán Fazekas, Miklós Boros, Tibor Duducz, László Polgár, János Tőke