Bosnian swimmer Lana Pudar chasing Olympic history

Imagine being 17 years old and one of your sport's most promising talents. Then imagine representing a country that has never won an Olympic medal.

That is the reality for Bosnia's Lana Pudar, who is targeting a podium place at next year's Paris Games.

"Of course I want a medal," Pudar told DW in an interview, her face lighting up at the prospect. "That's like the world for my country, for everyone. I will be forever in the history books. That's what I really hope for."

"I think I am somewhere near because [at the World Championships] in Fukuoka this year I was fourth. I need more races, I need to learn how to compete with the highest level of athletes. I need to improve everything. I need to improve my training, I need to drop my time. But I think I have that potential."

There is no doubting Pudar's potential in her favorite event, the 200-meter butterfly, although the gap between her and one of her main rivals was clear at the recent World Cup leg in Berlin.

Despite digging in on the last length to claim the bronze medal, she finished almost two seconds behind China's Zhang Yufei, the runaway winner and reigning Olympic champion. Still, the race gave her valuable experience of competing alongside a top-class international field.

"It's really important because this is the start of a new season," Pudar said. "It's important to see where I am now and what else I have to do to improve, to be at the best level at the Olympic Games."

Political tug-of-war

Bosnia is one of just four European participants to have never won an Olympic medal (the others are Albania, Andorra and Monaco), but Pudar is well-placed to change that. A gold medal at last year's European championships in Rome signaled her arrival on the senior stage, turning her into an overnight star back home.

However, not everyone celebrated the teenager's victory. In neighboring Serbia, nationalist newspapers berated her for choosing to compete for Bosnia, given that they consider her father to be a Serb. One particularly condescending headline read: "The new champion of Europe, she didn't want Serbia, she chose Bosnia!"

While some try to make political capital from Pudar's success and claim her as their own, the swimmer herself is keen to shut out the noise.

"I see that people love me in my country especially, but I see that the neighbors respect me too," she said. "I really wanted to swim for Bosnia because that's my country. I was born there, I was raised there and I really want to make big things for my hometown and my country."

Perhaps it hasn't helped Pudar's cause that her father, Velibor, was a well-known athlete himself, playing football for and coaching a number of clubs at home and abroad, including in Serbia.

Overall, though, she feels she benefits from her family's sporting background.

"It's good to have someone who understands the sport and the sacrifices," Pudar said. "They never put pressure on me, neither him nor my mother. Everyone is just happy. They believe in my coaches, that's the most important thing."

Huge sacrifices

The sacrifices to which Pudar refers are huge. While her friends get to go shopping or to the cinema, she subjects herself to a grueling daily routine.

That includes a 5 a.m. wake-up call for her first training session of the day, on dry land, which is followed by a couple of two-to two-and-a-half hour stints in the pool and some time in the gym.

Complicating matters is the fact that her hometown, Mostar, doesn't have an Olympic-size pool, meaning she has to travel further afield to train, typically to the capital Sarajevo or to Banja Luka, Bosnia's second city.

"My life is very difficult and different from other teenagers," Pudar admitted. "I need to go to swimming camps all over Europe and the world, so I'm not at home very often. It's a really busy schedule. In the meantime, when I'm at home, I need to go to school. It's really tiring.

"I'm a very simple lady," she added, laughing. "I don't have any hobbies, other than swimming. But that's not my hobby, it's my full-time job."

So is it all work and no play? "I find some time but not very often," the 17-year-old said. And here is where the old adage, 'no pain, no gain,' comes in, especially considering the 200-meter butterfly is regarded by many as swimming's toughest event.

"It really hurt," Pudar said after the final in Berlin. But she has no doubt she has what it takes to close the gap on her rivals.

"I believe in myself, I believe in my coaches and in my training," she said. "This is a really good start to the season."

Edited by: Matt Pearson