President of the Croatian Gymnastics Federation Marijo Možnik, ahead of the European Championships in Zagreb, speaks about the role of family, faith, and setting the right goals in professional sport.
Marijo Možnik (39), president of the Croatian Gymnastics Federation and a former top gymnast, shared his thoughts on the inseparable bond between faith and sport in an interview with Glas Koncila. Ahead of the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships, which will be held from August 13 to 23 at the Zagreb Arena, he reflected on his own career, family challenges, and the spirit that drives Croatian athletes.
The European Championships will bring together around 600 gymnasts from about forty countries. Možnik emphasizes that this competition has long been a dream of Croatian gymnastics. For the first time in history, a prize fund has been secured for competitors and their coaches. "With this fund, we wanted to send a message about how important the role of a coach is when you reach a professional level. The coach has the responsibility to be both a psychologist and a pedagogue, someone who guides a young person and spends perhaps the most time with them during the week, whether in the gym or on another sports field," Možnik said.
Reflecting on the development of gymnastics in Croatia, Možnik notes that conditions have significantly improved compared to the time of his active career. Centers of excellence are no longer tied only to the capital but have also been developed in Osijek and Nedelišće. "In my early days and a bit later, it was not uncommon to travel abroad for several weeks to prepare for major competitions, where we could find gyms suitable for elite gymnastics. Gymnastics in Croatia is growing today, and it is also growing worldwide," he points out.
Despite incomparably smaller resources compared to superpowers like China and America, Možnik believes in a special Croatian mentality. "Our gymnasts come from 'small' Croatia and compete with athletes from all over the world. Yet there is something special about us Croats when it comes to major competitions, and that is our desire to win, to show that we can. With that spirit, we achieve significant recognition. We can see something similar, for example, among our footballers," he adds.
Možnik also recalled his beginnings, revealing that it was his mother's encouragement, as a very lively child, that led him to gymnastics. "My mother is a teacher, and her pedagogical streak helped me a lot in the later stages of gymnastics, especially when certain crises and doubts about how to continue arose in my professional career. Family then played a crucial role, keeping me on the path of perseverance," he testifies.
He emphasizes that professional sport requires the involvement of the entire family. "If we're talking about a professional athlete, as I can attest from my own experience and that of other athletes, the whole family actually gathers around what that young man or woman does. This means no more long vacations, no more summer or winter holidays lasting several weeks. You also have to think about school, which must not take a back seat."
A key part of Možnik's testimony concerns the period of 2011 and 2012. At that time, his younger brother Darijo, also a gifted gymnast, passed away suddenly, and shortly after, he suffered a serious injury when part of the apparatus broke during competition preparation. "It was a period when I asked myself: 'What is all this for, what is all my effort for?' But somehow, with faith, I understood that every path must have difficulties and falls, and that what was currently before me was actually part of life," he recalls.
Despite well-meaning advice to give up, with the support of his family, he decided to continue. A quick recovery allowed him to compete at the 2012 European Championships in Montpellier, where he won silver, his first major medal. "With faith, I also understood that no matter how hard we try personally, not everything is always in our hands. I agree with the idea that an athlete should always set the highest possible goal, subordinate their work to that goal, but it is not up to us whether we actually reach that goal," Možnik concludes.
He adds that faith helps him in everyday life, even on distant travels. "It's clear that when an athlete finds themselves in some remote place, they might not immediately know where the nearest church is to attend Mass or simply to stop by for a short prayer. But often it's not hard to find out. After all, even in the regular schedule around competitions or preparations, you can set aside those few moments for prayer."
Možnik, who took over the Croatian Gymnastics Federation in 2020, holds a doctorate in kinesiology and is a professor at the Faculty of Kinesiology. His career is adorned with numerous medals, including bronze at the 2014 World Championships in Nanning and gold at the 2015 European Championships in Montpellier.
