Blind Serbian Hero of the Chicago Marathon

It wasn’t just Chicago breaking records this year - Serbs did too, with 39 participants, among whom the greatest attention was drawn to blind runner Milan Petrovic, who is attempting a remarkable feat: to complete all six of the world’s major marathons, including those in New York, Boston, Tokyo, Berlin, and London.

At the cheering station, we also met one of the originators of this idea, Darko Habus, director of the Belgrade Marathon, who is currently in Chicago as a guest of the marathon organizers and the Serbian Consulate.

The day before, at the invitation of the Chicago Marathon organizers, he participated in organizing a shorter race.

"The atmosphere is fantastic, and my heart is full because today we are on the streets of Chicago with a special initiative by the Belgrade Marathon – a Serbian cheering station at the 12th kilometer. The goal is to bring together our community living here in Chicago, to connect with this large Serbian diaspora, and at the same time to welcome all Serbian runners participating this year - 40 of them," Habus told Newsmax Balkans.

The Consul General of Serbia, Marko Nikolic, attended the event with his wife and three children.

"We are part of the world, a sporting nation just like the citizens of this great country. It is both an inspiration and a motivation to take part and contribute to this great event," Nikolic told Newsmax Balkans.

Foto: Tanjug/AP, Nam Y. Huh

Then our cheering group erupted as our hero, Milan Petrovic, appeared on the course, accompanied by his inseparable friend and comrade, ultramarathoner Dejan Ivankovic.

Milan drew ovations not only from the Serbian crowd but also from the Chicago audience, who know how to appreciate brave people with big hearts. After a short break, the two continued toward the finish line, while we prepared to welcome the other Serbian competitors.

In the end, all of them successfully completed the race - no injuries, no withdrawals - earning their collective performance a perfect score of ten.

It should also be noted that in addition to a record number of marathoners, a record number of spectators and supporters took to the streets of the largest Serbian city outside of Belgrade, making the most of the beautiful, sunny day to cheer on the participants.

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