Growing Up in Hopes of Achieving Her Olympic Dream, Swimming Star Gets Emotional Before Paris 2024: “Waiting for That Medal for Almost 25 Years”

Lana Pudar, a pioneer swimmer from Bosnia-Herzegovina is about to become immortalized after becoming the first person from Bosnia-Herzegovina ever to reach the Olympics. With a victory in the prestigious European long course title for the 200m butterfly at Roma 2022, Pudar will pursue one goal: grabbing the country’s premier medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics in any sport

Reflecting on her aspirations, Pudar expressed that her ultimate goal is to stand atop the Olympic podium next year. For nearly a quarter-century, the dream of that medal has been a driving force, and achieving it would mark an unprecedented historic milestone!

A Champion’s Odyssey

She began swimming at age 5. Later she faced serious training and competitions due to her talent. By then she was already breaking age-group records in preparation for an impressive professional swimming career. Looking back, Pudar says the love of the water was already there from the beginning. As she developed her talent, she received intensive training early on. She went through a series of victories from the European Junior Championships in 50 m breaststroke to a good result at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, as well as the world in 50 m breaststroke short course for bronze as she won the European junior

Lana Pudar’s resolute ambition centres on clinching an Olympic medal, particularly eyeing the prestigious gold. Expressing her unwavering determination, Pudar emphasized, “My goal is to win an Olympic medal, actually an Olympic gold medal next year because we have been waiting for that medal for almost 25 years, and it would be so big and historic!”

Acknowledging the sacrifices demanded by her career, Pudar asserts,  “It has been hard and still is sometimes when I have moments where I want to stop all of this and just be a normal teenager,” she admits to European Aquatics.”

Olympic Inspiration and Aspiration in Swimming

Inspired by international swimming icon Sarah Sjöström, Pudar found her guiding light in the world of butterfly events. Describing her admiration for Sjöström, Pudar shares, “From the onset, she was my favourite and continues to be my role model. I admire her resilience and sustained success in the sport.”

Read More: Despite Being a World-Class Swimmer, Michael Phelps Once Signaled His Lofty Ambitions to Try an Exciting Sport in His Career – “Decision Was Kind of Left to Us”

Lana Pudar is truly happy with this ambition of being inspiration for swimmer’s within their own homeland. She feels motivated by the great love and admiration that she gets from her home country since it speaks volumes about her efforts and commitment to the industry. This gives her a desire to be a role model to aspiring athletes’ especially the passionate young children to push herself towards excellence. The undeterred excitement and reverence, in fact, are what instill within her the desire to surpass herself.

Watch this story: Lindsey Vonn, Cody Simpson, Chandler Parson, and entire sports world mourns the loss of Michael Phelps’ father