In the interview, Viktor Orbán called the results achieved by the Hungarian Olympians, including the six gold medals, a good stance, and he believed that the Hungarians are in the top ten.
In the interview published on Saturday, the Prime Minister said that he was secretly hoping for eight gold medals, but he considers the six first places achieved to be a good position. Viktor Orbán noted that if we look at the present, we can say that we have stood our ground and are holding our own.
"If we look at the future and use the current Olympics to understand the next Olympics, then what we know now is not enough, it is only sufficient for continuous regression," he added. According to him, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, the countries of Central Asian martial arts "pass by us" .
Viktor Orbán pointed out: you can't miss out on the new sports either.
"This is a difficult professional task that will have to be solved by the Olympic Committee, but we cannot give up on the opportunities available in the new sports that will be included in the Olympic program, because this will put us behind."
he thought.
According to the Prime Minister, it is a huge achievement to protect our place, but quoting the swordsman Áron Szilágyi, he emphasized: what is enough today is not enough tomorrow. "Sports are not mathematics", he explained, adding that "you can't expect success from sports as you used to expect production indicators in socialism" . At the same time, he emphasized: Hungarians are in the top ten.
"In the top ten at every Olympics and in the top ten overall, looking at the history of the Olympics. It's not worth setting a smaller goal"
Viktor Orbán emphasized.
He also spoke about the fact that dissatisfaction is characteristic of Hungarians, but "Libsi dissatisfaction" there is a type of dissatisfaction that "does not destroy, does not oppress, does not talk down, does not devalue, but rather brings determination and assigns a task. And if there is this good kind of dissatisfaction in the majority in Hungary, then the sport develops". He emphasized: it doesn't matter how dissatisfied we are with our performance.
The prime minister pointed out that we have unused opportunities, citing the bicycle as an example. "It shows that there is some kind of mysterious connection between sports and Hungarians that is hard to define. It's a mistake that we got off the track bike. The construction of velodromes was part of the Hungarian sports development plans, but then it was delayed due to a lack of funds". He noted that at least two, but preferably three, should be built. According to Viktor Orbán, at the same time, we also have something to earn in combat sports, and not only for men.
"We were close, if our daughter Luca Hámori didn't have to fight with a manly opponent, then we could have been close to the medal, and even on top of the podium. We trust the Olympic movement to find a satisfactory solution to this embarrassing problem"
he added.
He also spoke about the missing gold medals in wrestling, kayaking, swimming and fencing. “We usually had outstanding geniuses in these sports. Áron Szilágyi in fencing, Danuta Kozák in kayak-canoe, and Katinka Hosszú in swimming. We don't have an athlete who can win two or even three golds, which could boost our medal count a lot," he added.
When asked if Kristóf Milák could be such a genius, he answered that he was
"there are self-righteous geniuses, where we use the most if we do not interfere in how they do it".
"We had Zoli Varga in football, Kristóf Milák in swimming, and Balczo in the pentathlon. We can't put them on a scaffolding, they are born geniuses. We are very proud of them. But we don't need to understand the performance of every Hungarian genius. We simply have to be happy that he is," said Viktor Orbán, adding that Milák should be helped, encouraged and let go, and maybe he will beat the world in other numbers besides the butterfly. "I pay attention to the news coming from America, and maybe we can expect more in the case of Hubert Kós," he added.
He commented on the regional medal tables, "it's good that we compete with the regional countries and are at the top. But it is not good for us if they are not constantly in competition with us. More successful Romanians, more successful Croatians, even more gold medals for the Serbs, medals for the Slovaks, we are interested in that," he emphasized.
"If anyone thinks that Hungary can be permanently successful by breaking away from the region, they are wrong in both sports and politics. Central Europe must be successful"
Viktor Orbán emphasized.
Speaking about team sports, he emphasized that we should be at the Olympics in all of the classic team sports, but at least there should be a constant chance in football, basketball and volleyball beyond water polo and handball. "As for the T-shirt, we don't feel a lack, but a disappointment," he added, noting that people in Hungary have good judgment in the field of sports performance as well.
"But Hungarians also know something else. Being a champion is a different category. The silver medal and the bronze are separated by a small distance, but the silver is a world apart from the gold"
he thought.
He emphasized that it was fantastic that the gold of the last classic quintet went to Hungary through a lady. "If anyone can say something about winning, Michelle Gulyás can!" Viktor Orbán said. "And although every victory is wonderful, we also had an epic victory, Kristófé Rasovszky" . Viktor Orbán pointed out: Rasovszky won in a sport where Hungarian men have never won Olympic gold.
In connection with the swimming organized in the infected Sejna, Viktor Orbán also addressed the following: we should not think that nations in the world receive the same treatment. "Hungarian victories are especially important because Hungarians are usually treated disadvantageously. It is a rare moment and a rare sport where we are able to represent ourselves at such a level that we are treated fairly, and that we compete in a favorable environment. We usually start from a disadvantage and win from there," he pointed out.
The Prime Minister drew attention to the fact that 16 of the 19 medals in Paris were won by university students, "in other words, we can expect more from universities in competitive sports than we thought before". He also touched on sailing, as he put it,
"if talents come one after the other from sailing, then the interpretation is that there is something that Hungarians see in the sport, which perhaps others do not, and which qualifies us to be among the best, and if this is the case, then such sports should be helped".
The prime minister emphasized that they will start the next Olympic period with the current state secretary for sports, Ádám Schmidt.
"And I've been working with him for the past few days, we're currently reviewing the methodology for evaluating the Olympics. There is a chain of new sports development agreements on the threshold, which must be brought under the roof of the state secretary, " said the Prime Minister, who noted that this Olympics should have been held in Budapest.
In this regard, he emphasized: "it is obvious that if the Budapest city government does not support the Budapest Olympics, then there will be no Olympics" . According to him, all they can do is to provide the Olympic Committee with all the conditions necessary to prepare for the Olympics.
"The golden gate is open, you just have to sneak through it. It was already here, we could have brought the current one, but we can bring the 36 if we want. I don't think that any other location would meet the principles announced by the International Olympic Committee better than Budapest or Hungary."
- said Viktor Orbán, who believes that there is no other country in the world that has as many modern facilities suitable for the Olympics as Hungary. "Athletic stadium, the Puskás Aréna, we are sitting here now in the Duna Aréna. We have everything. Some mobile halls need to be pulled up and demolished, and good day," he added.
In the interview, Viktor Orbán addressed the controversies that broke out at the Olympics, as well as the opening that caused outrage among many.
As he put it,
"everything that is important to us is under total attack".
"The national identity, without which the whole world has no meaning for a Hungarian, is under such attacks and suffers insults that were unprecedented before. What might have seemed like nationalism before is now a matter of existence, like bread," he emphasized.
"If we don't put down our feet and stand on our heels, they will subvert the world in which the most humane life can be lived, where women are women, French are French, Hungarians are Hungarians, Americans are Americans".
In the interview, the football season was also mentioned, that there have never been so many Hungarian teams competing for the main table in the European cups. Viktor Orbán said he was dissatisfied with the situation. "It's better than it was, but it's far from what we want," he added. According to him, you should really hate the government, Hungarian football,
"perhaps even his own country for those who want to say that there are no positive changes in this sport."
"Today, I can see the talent and ability of the guys coming out of the academies, that at least half of the outfield players of 12 Hungarian teams can be made from these Hungarians. And we don't. Including the Puskás Academy, we are not there yet. When there will be five or six self-educated players on the pitch, and four or five foreigners, then we can say that this is what we were thinking about," said Viktor Orbán in an interview with Nemzeti Sport.
Featured image: Viktor Orbán / Facebook
