On 29 May 2017, Milica Mandić and Tijana Bogdanović, Serbian taekwondo players, with their coach and founder of Taekwondo Club “Galeb”, Dragan Jović, took part in our special lecture series and gave a lecture entitled “The Road to Success” to the students of FIMEK and the Faculty of Law in Novi Sad.

The Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Engineering Management, Prof. Dragan Soleša Ph.D., welcomed the guests and expressed his great pleasure and honor as the top athletes took the time to share their knowledge and experience on their road to success with our students.

“Just as it was with the establishment of University Business Academy, I believe, such was the beginning or the founding of the Taekwondo Club Galeb… it was by no means easy”, said the coach Dragan Jović. “In an interview with your dean, Prof. Dragan Soleša, I learned how many students and study programs you have, which fascinated me, and I'm sure that behind all that there is a great amount of hard work, just as is the case with our club'', continued Mr. Dragan Jović.

Milica Mandić and Tijana Bogdanović, who won gold and silver medals at the 2012 Olympics in London and the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, spoke of their development in sport and experiences along the way. Milica Mandić started her career in 2008 when she did not even expect to become a professional taekwondo player, but because of her talent and hard work- she started achieving excellent results. The audience sees only those six minutes of the fight, and behind that there is a lot of hard work and dedication- just as you need in order to successfully complete your studies, says Milica Mandić. Milica points out that she never wanted to be an average athlete, so she had to continuously work hard to achieve the above-average results. Teamwork and mutual support in the Taekwondo Club “Galeb” were evident even when competitors did not have great results, but that is essential for an athlete to overcome the bad periods which are inevitable during one’s career, continues Milica Mandić. Tijana Bogdanović talked about their preparations for the Olympic Games and noted that her qualifications in our country were equally challenging for her as were the fights themselves later on, for they all led to major fights and silver medal at the Olympics. The two athletes spoke about the importance of focus during the competition when nothing should distract you during those 6 minutes, if you wish to succeed.

At the end of the lecture, students had the chance to ask questions, as well as to hear the anthem of the Taekwondo Club “Galeb”. In his closing argument, coach Dragan Jović said to the students, in the sporting spirit, that anything can be achieved with dedication and hard work.