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Zarko Paspalj

The Olympic Games or Olympics are an international multi-sport event taking place every four years which comprises of summer and winter games. Though the first ancient games were held in 776 B.C., the modern games started from 1896. The unity of the 5 continents is shown on the Olympic flag by five colorful intertwined rings of red, blue, green, yellow, and black, created by Baron Pierre de Coubertin to represent atleast one color of the participating country’s national flag.

Zarko Paspalj is one of the finest athletes who set an appreciated position for himself in the Olympic history. He is a former Montenegrin Serb professional basketball player. Paspalj was born on March 27, 1966 in Pljevlja, Yugoslavia. For years, he was the first selection for the Yugoslav national team, representing his country in two Olympics.

Paspalj started his professional stint in the mid 1980 seasons with the Buducnost team. Later, he also served as talent feeder for bigger clubs like Partizan, Cibona, Jugoplastika, and Red Star. Knowing Paspalj was by far Buducnost’s best young prospect and an asset that would soon be worth a lot of money, Buducnost leadership wouldn't let him train for a few days which meant that Cibona never saw him and picked another player.

Paspalj gained prominence during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, when he scored 16 points in the first half of the final against the Dream Team. He faded in the second half along with entire Yugoslavian team but still ended up a top scorer with 19 points, leaving an excellent notion that encouraged Atlanta Hawks to invite him to pre-season training camp.

Zarko Paspalj, with all his dedication and superior approach towards the sport, achieved many aspirations in his overall athletic career. He had the ability of defeating the opponent easily by just giving some extra hard work and efforts. He never lost hope in himself and always fought hard to achieve his ambition.

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