27th February 2012 02:01
If there is anyone in Serbian athletics who fits the description “one-woman band”, it is Snezana Pajkic.
In addition to serving as an honorary vice-president of the Athletic Federation of Serbia and a member of both the Women’s Committee and the Sport Committee of Serbia’s national Olympic committee, she is a driving force behind both an innovative talent development system and the country’s biggest athletics event, which involves nearly half a million people each year.
For her many contributions and almost super-human commitment to athletics, Snezana was named as her country’s winner of the 2011 European Athletics Women’s Leadership Award.
“Snezana is a famous former athlete who has used her credibility and good contacts with companies and politicians to open doors for our sport”, says Slobodan Brankovic, the General Secretary of the federation.
“She promotes athletics in the best possible way and has been a great role model for everyone in the sport”.
Making things happen
As the 1990 European Champion in the 1500m, Snezana knows from first-hand experience what it takes to produce a winner. Since she retired as a competitor, she has been putting this knowledge to good use as the Director of an independent organisation known as the Serbian Association of Athletic Talents “Aleksandar Petrovic”, named after a famous national coach.
Each year, the association teams up with television station RTS, the athletic federation, government and sponsors to stage the “KROS RTS”, which includes a series of five elite cross country races around Serbia, cross country races for the Serbian diaspora in at least 15 countries and mass participation cross country races, which altogether in 2011 had an amazing 477,648 runners, most of them children, in 143 Serbian cities and towns.
Competing in the elite series is a must for runners hoping for selection to represent Serbia at international cross country events. Past participants include Jevtic Olivera (2006 European Championship silver medallist in the marathon and four-time European Cross Country Championship bronze medallist) and Amela Terzic (2011 European Junior Champion in 1500m and 3000m).
Just as important, the mass participation races have been a tradition in Serbian school sport for more than 20 years, as more than 54% of all children in the country take part at some point in their educational career.
Outstanding young performers from these races are invited to attend the annual Aleksandar Petrovic athletics camp staged by Snezana and her colleagues. There, they receive physical training to develop their talents and help coaches identify future champions.
But exercise is not the only focus. Emphasis is also given to personal development topics such as health, diet, life-skills, character building and strategies for coping with pressure, showing how athletics can add to the quality of people’s lives and help everyone be a winner. To make this happen, Snezana organises learning sessions led by a wide range of experts including coaches, sport psychologists and university professors.
RTS journalist Stevan Kovacevic, who created both the KROS RTS in 1991 and the association Snezana now directs, is full of praise: “She has been a champion for me since I witnessed her bronze medal performance at the 1986 IAAF World Junior Championships in Athens.”
“Over the years she has become my right hand in the organisation of our events and I have learned that she is a born leader in the way that she handles the association and all her other challenges.”
Throughout her career, Snezana has become a master of the art of juggling multiple tasks, like convincing government officials or sponsors about the importance of athletics, finding competition venues or speakers and managing logistical challenges.
Her success is evident in the fact that the KROS RTS series, with all its size and complexity, is staged each year and that she has been able to gain substantial support for the camp from both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Sport and Youth.
This juggling also includes balancing her personal life, and there is no question which comes first.
When asked which of all her achievements she is most proud, Snezana replies without hesitation “my two wonderful daughters”.
The European Athletics Women’s Leaderships Awards
The aim of the European Athletics Women’s Leadership Awards is to recognise the behind the scenes work and accomplishments that have helped make the winners role models for others in athletics. Coaching young athletes, officiating, setting up and a managing club . . . their achievements are as varied as the individuals themselves.
In 2011, 31 women were selected for the award by their national athletics federation. For more information on the awards click here.
— With special thanks to Katia Engalycheva and Biljana Danicic