and whoever is the national coach would have a sense how far a Junior could reach if he was approached the right way. He was bringing us youngsters up to join the Senior National Team in their training camps in preparation for the European Championships or the World Championships. We were right behind the team, and slowly growing next to them. After a few years, we were pushing them out and taking over. It was kind of like a chain, building the base in that kind of system. One gen- eration goes, and the second generation is right there, winning medals. In my case, I pushed the guy out who was a seven- time European, World and Olympic medalist. He was 10 years older than I was. When I pushed him out, before my first Olympic Games in 1976, I went and won the Olympics. I was already mentally and physically ready. I did what I needed to do.
USA Wrestler: How were you financially supported when you were competing at the Olympic level? Petkovic: When you start achieving results, they had a sys- tem with three levels of athletes. The toughest and highest level was the Olympic and World medalists, and top three in Europe. The international level was top six in the World and winning international tournaments. The third level is the national level, when you are national champion. You were getting a monthly stipend, depending on what level you were. You had to repeat it. At the international level, you had to repeat every two years. You had to have the results so you are capable of receiving the same kind of support from the Yugoslavian Olympic Committee. Sometimes you would get stipends from clubs, like it is here for us. Also from the city where you are from. Some cities were also capable to help you financially in the same kind of system. In your region, if you come back as a great success, they take care of your family. At that moment, you have a place to live, an apartment where you can live and they try to take care of you the best they can.
USA Wrestler: Going into the Montreal Olympics, how did you believe you would do? Petkovic: In 1975, I was supposed to wrestle in the Worlds and I got hurt two days before we left. I didn’t wrestle. In 1976, I made the team. I pushed my opponent out by beating him twice. In 1976, I won the Nikola Petrov tournament in Bulgaria and the Hungarian Grand Prix. That was my green card that I had potential, that I passed the test, and the Olympic Committee would take me to the Olympics. In mid-1975, I really started raising my mental and physical and technical level. I beat some very good wrestlers and I felt I could do well at the Olympics. I was ready for all those battles. In my mind, if I did not win a medal at the Olympics, it would be like I never went to the Olympics, even though it was my first major tournament.
USA Wrestler: What are your memories from Montreal? Petkovic: It was long, much longer than now. We wrestled four or five days. I had six matches. One of the biggest chal- lenge was my third match against the Russian, who beat me two years before. Before the bout, I was calm and at peace, but at the same time, it was so challenging. I had to fight the whole battle, and up and down battle. The matched ended 6-6. I scored the last technical points and won that match. The last match I wrestled a World champion, European champion from Bulgaria. The night before, you have one more match, with four competitors in the weight class. You can be Olympic champion by winning, or fourth by losing. If the Swedish guy beats the Russian dude, and I lose to the Bulgarian dude, I am fourth. I don’t think I slept at all. In the morning, thank God I had that match. As soon as it started, everything went away. It was an
interesting match. After six minutes, it was 5-5. I ended up win- ning the match 10-5 and I become Olympic champion.
USA Wrestler: After you won the Olympic title, what was it like for you back in Yugoslavia? Petkovic: It was a huge deal. First of all, a huge deal for our
country. We won two gold medals. I won the first one, and after that, an athlete from kayak won a gold medal too. We had 12 Olympic medals that year. It was especially big for my town, which is the base of Greco-Roman wrestling. I was their first Olympic champion ever. I brought the gold back to the city. When we landed in Belgrade, people were waiting. They carried me around. It was unforgettable. We went to the little soccer stadium and there were thousands of people. We had another athlete from town, a boxer who didn’t place. The whole town was behind you. Everybody was proud.
USA Wrestler: After Montreal, you won four World medals. What do you believe were your best abilities that led to winning medals?
Petkovic: My biggest thing is I enjoyed the sport. When I look back, when I won that Olympic gold medal, that I could have stayed at the same mental level, and that I didn’t get scared of that. I started questioning. All of a sudden, boom. All your life you dream about it. An Olympic champion was a giant. How are you going to get there? After that, my life changed a little bit. There were some questions. I never made the same mental level, that I was best. I had the skills, the potential, the knowl- edge and I loved the sport. Those little things were missing. In my opinion, that is why I did not win three, four or more gold medals. It is tough, year after year to go back and be one of the best in the world for 10 years, one of the top contenders at your weight class. It was a great achievement. The sport gave me all the tools to be successful, to fight to stay alive. I grew up through the sport. My parents were divorced. The sport kept me on a different track and guided me in the right direction.
USA Wrestler: You wrestled through 1984, and placed fourth at the Los Angeles Olympic Games? How was that Olympics different than Montreal? Petkovic: It was different. That was my last international competition. It was the end of my career. I knew it was the last deal. I think I competed pretty good. I had a breaking point in my semifinal match. I lost a match I should have never lost, to an opponent I beat six times. I was fourth, and ended up leaving the sport without winning my second Olympic medal. These days I think about it. I am in peace. Down the line, I learned that for everything that happens in your life, there is a reason. That reason was that now I can guide and teach students I am deal- ing with. All those little things, I know what can happen, how that can happen, why that happened.
USA Wrestler: You moved to the United States in 1986. What were the reasons you came to this country and what was it like? Petkovic: My mother moved out here in 1973. Second, I always had a good relationship with the U.S. team, especially my great opponent Dan Chandler. We were good friends and I was coming to Minneapolis for joint training. Another thing, because my mother and that part of my family ended up here, I always thought that down the line I was going to end up here. When I was done with my wrestling, some things were sup- posed to happen in my city and I’d open a business. I had a dream I would open the first McDonalds in my city. They never went through. The U.S. embassy approved my green card,
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