Kemal Mesic: From Bosnia to Gainesville
Thursday, November 12, 2009 | Track and Field
By: Caitlin Howard
As the start time of the track meet nears, Kemal Mesic prepares to do a task that has come naturally to him since he was 10 years old. He meticulously places his jersey, tape and chalk in a row and clutches his lucky necklace, a tiny leather rectangle with gold stitching fastened to a black rope. His senses are heightened yet he is at ease. Every step he takes, every ritual he performs is calculated for success.
He approaches the circle with a confidence that comes from years of experience. He assumes a thrower's stance. His body is like a programmed machine, moving with precision and grace. He is facing backward, away from where he is throwing, away from his coach, and away from the crowd.
In the few seconds before he throws, he is completely by himself. He is not worried about his past; a life in Bosnia torn by war. And he is not worried about the future; a series of exceptional throws at UF could lead to Olympic success. Instead, he is focused on the present. With every throw, he is trying to prove he is the best.
“I wanted always to be good, like really good,” Mesic says with a thick Bosnian accent. “I was always training hard to be the best.”
Following in his father's footsteps, a former member of the Bosnian National Team, Mesic began to run track at a young age and his father coached him. He started out running short distances, but after throwing the discus for the first time, he knew he had found his niche.
“It felt strange at first, but I liked it,” he says. “It came naturally to me.”
He began a rigorous training schedule while attending school in Germany until his dreams were suddenly put on hold.
Mesic's family had moved to Germany when he was three to escape the Bosnian War. When the war was over, his family moved back to Bosnia to resume their old lives; only there was nothing left from their old lives. Their house was demolished and the only thing left was a pile of bricks. The schools were gone and the track was too damaged to use.
“It was a big eye-opener to go back to Bosnia when it was so bad,” Mesic said. “I learned a lot. I know how it feels when you have everything then nothing. A lot of people will never know how it feels. You start to see the world with different eyes.”
Mesic stopped training for a few years while the city tried to repair itself. Shortly after they returned, violence and drugs spread through the city. Dead bodies sprinkled the streets and guns were easier to buy than bread at the supermarket. There were no jobs and there was no money.
“There were 1 million people in Bosnia before the war. There were only 100,000 people in Bosnia after the war. All the people and family you knew were gone. That is the hardest part.”
He had a choice to make: he could either succumb to the violence or he could pursue his dream of becoming an Olympic athlete. Mesic began to train harder than ever before. Then, four years after he graduated high school, throws coach Steve Lemke from the University of Florida came to Bosnia looking to recruit his training partner. By chance, Lemke saw Mesic training and decided to offer him a scholarship, too.
“It was a hard decision to make,” Mesic said. “I knew it was a great opportunity, but I didn't want to leave my family. My dad ended up convincing me. He wanted me to get a degree and to have a better life.”
Shortly afterward, 23-year-old Mesic left Sarajevo, Bosnia and was on a plane ride to Florida. With an intimidating build of 6-foot-6 and 278 pounds, and knowing very little English, Mesic was worried about fitting in.
“When I first saw Kemal, I was like, who is this big giant,” says Christian Taylor, Mesic's current roommate and an All-America triple jumper. “I asked him what he was doing and he spoke probably the only two English words he knew at the time, discus and shot.”
Although Mesic has only been in America for a year, his English has improved immensely. His friends attribute his improved English to watching a lot of television. He knows a lot of slang now and can understand their jokes.
“He doesn't say much, but when he does, he knows what to say,” says Adam Montague, an All-America javelin thrower and Mesic's teammate. “He is constantly doing things to make us laugh.”
Montague recalled a time when Mesic and another teammate were joking about who could eat more chicken wings. It started as a joke, but Mesic and six friends from the track team went to a local restaurant's all-you-can-eat wings to settle the bet. Mesic ended up winning by eating 101 wings to his teammate's 94 wings.
“It was so funny watching them go back and forth,” Montague says. “They felt sick for the next two days.”
Mesic knows when it's time to be serious and when it is time to work. He says every meet is a chance to prove himself. With just three throws in the preliminaries, it is crucial to make every throw count.
Mesic trains 20 hours a week in the weight room and on the track. Most of his training includes short distance sprints and repetition of technique and form. Staying focused on each throw is essential to his success. He accredits this to six years of taekwondo and earning a black belt.
His first meet competing for UF was the Kentucky Invitational last January.
“It was my first competition in the United States, and there were a lot of students watching.”
He had never experienced that kind of intense atmosphere before.
“I like the feeling when they say my name over the loud speaker,” Mesic said. “I feel power. At first it's a scary feeling but then you want it.”
He placed third in men's shot put in the NCAA Division I 2009 Outdoor Track and Field Championships and is on the Bosnian National Team. Every sanctioned collegiate meet he competes in is a chance to reach his ultimate goal of winning a gold medal. If he consistently throws the 20.0-meter “A” standard set by the Olympics, he will automatically be included in the event and get a chance to compete in London in 2012.
Despite growing up nearly 5,391 miles away, Mesic is pretty much a normal student. He is currently pursuing a degree in political science. He supports other athletic teams at UF, like football and soccer. After track is finished, he hopes to become a businessman, like his father. He even has dreams of coaching track too.
At UF, Mesic has the support of experienced coaches committed to the success of him and the entire track team. But he also gave up a lot to be here. He had to end a four-year relationship with his girlfriend and had to leave his family behind.”
“It's hard being so far away from my family,” Mesic said. “I do the hard work because I am so far away.”
Mesic's parents haven't visited him in Florida, but he went home to visit them this past winter break. He recently got a cell phone so he will be able to stay in touch with them. Mesic has two more years of eligibility left at UF. Every meet is crucial to pursuing his dream.
“I came here to be one of the best in the sport,” Mesic says. “That is the sacrifice I wanted to make.”
END OF REPORT
