BENGALURU: High jump legend Blanka Vlasic, former World champion and two-time Olympic medalist from Croatia, said every youngster should be involved in sport so that a few of them can be spotted by trained eyes and groomed to become champions. Here as international event ambassador for the TCS World 10K Bengaluru, Vlasic also said sports bodies need to be aware that the needs of the athletes come first.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Vlasic, who cleared the magical two-metre mark over 165 times and won 14 Diamond League titles, said India should keep investing in coaches. “It’s very important to always keep investing in coaches. It’s important because there are not enough good coaches. The team around the athlete needs to be on a high level, so the athlete can produce her best results. Also, you need to be able to motivate those kids to try out, so you can search out their talents and guide them in the right way from an early age,” Vlasic told TOI.When pointed out India led a dubious list of athletes taking banned drugs, Vlasic said: “If you achieve success with the shortcuts, then your success will probably be just one spark and that’s it. Do you remember that one champion that won one time or do you remember a champion who was 10 years present with his or her ups and downs?“Beyond medals, beyond a single achievement in track and field especially, it’s very important that you have a level of results and that you are able to maintain that for a prolonged period of time. That is what is valued. If you’re among the top 10 in the world for more than 10 years, you could say that you had a great career in sports and people should think about that. One success doesn’t make you successful if it doesn’t last,” said the 2010 Women’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year.Looking back at her glittering career, in which she won every medal up except an Olympic gold, Vlasic now regrets missing that top podium. “I would always take the world record because there are so many Olympic gold medalists. The world record is only one.“Now, I regret never having won an Olympic gold although I wouldn’t say I have too many regrets,” she said.
