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Mr Orbán said the Hungarians have a special relationship with water sports.
While we have beautiful rivers and wonderful lakes, Hungary is situated in the middle of the mainland, he pointed out. Despite this, water polo, swimming, kayaking and canoeing have always been the flagships of Hungarian competitive sports. Most recently, we have also “excelled” in open water swimming, while our sailors are outperforming the teams of major sea nations, the Prime Minister added.
The Prime Minister recalled that the latest Olympic Games highlighted how easy it was to miss the top of the podium. Therefore, we must keep up with the vanguard of the world also in preparations and the quality of sports facilities, Mr Orbán stressed.
He said you cannot win without participating, while participating means rendering sport a part of our lives. If there is anyone who knows what long-term hard work is, it must be Katalin Kovács who – with her 31 world championship titles – is the world’s most successful female kayaker, while she can additionally boast 29 European championship titles and three Olympic gold medals, he said, praising the head of the academy.
The Prime Minister quoted Katalin Kovács, and then said that the example of our Olympic champion is also proof of the fact that community and dissatisfaction perceived as a personal ambition are the two main drivers of success.
Without communities, there are no water sports, the same as there is no nation either, Mr Orbán stated.
According to the Prime Minister, the experiences with which the generations of the future reach adulthood are not irrelevant. He said today our children are living in an ever more isolated world, and additionally, they are under constant supervision and oversight.
He added that the great communal freedom in which his own generation had grown up no longer existed. However, adjusted to the needs of our time, communities, joint efforts, physical strength and agility must nonetheless be present in the lives of children, and sport is the most suitable activity for this, Mr Orbán indicated.
He added that you can do sports primarily as part of a community, your performance is tested in a community because “there is no such thing as that someone runs faster than others in their heads, or that they win the Olympic Games in their dreams.” You must enter the piste, you must board your boat, you must go out onto the pitch in order to find out what the effort that you have put in is worth, he pointed out.
According to Mr Orbán, athletes know that community gives you strength and perseverance. Values such as trust, perseverance, the honour of your word or camaraderie can be learnt best from sports, he added.
He also said another pre-condition of a nation’s success is ambition so that we should not be content with what is just good enough. These are skills which Hungary will be in great need of during the period ahead, he said.
He recalled that while in the past 35 years there had been difficulties, the world had fundamentally lived in a peaceful era. It was possible to achieve feats with simple life strategies and a performance just above mediocre, but in the future we will need more than that, according to the Prime Minister.
Hungary will need people who are able “to raise the bar.” This is why the Hungarian government invests in sports, and this is why it establishes sports academies such as the Kovács Katalin National Kayak and Canoe Academy, Mr Orbán highlighted.
He stressed that despite crises, pandemics and wars, a world-class sports centre had been established by Lake Velence. As a result, there is a first-class sports facility, training to the highest standards is available, and there is also a good community. There is everything that is necessary for success, “in the future, no Czech champion will surprise us in our own disciplines,” he said.
In the next few years, great things will await Hungary, and also in kayaking and canoeing we must climb back to the top of the world, the Prime Minister said in conclusion.
