Ismail Zulfic was born without arms and a deformed foot, and he won a Gold medal at a regional swimming competition for the disabled in Croatia last year. This is why Sarajevo's City Council decided to present the “Sarajevska Pahuljica” (Sarajevo Snowflake) award to the boy who is showing the rest of the nation one can always do better.

As soon as Ismail Zulfic conquered his fears, it was difficult to get him to out of the water. The boy from the central Bosnian town of Zenica learned to swim all by himself. Last year he joined the swimming club “Spid” in Sarajevo, and kept training until he became a champion.  

In May last year he swam the 50-meter back stroke in Zagreb all the way to the Gold medal.  

“I have won,” Zulfic said with a big smile on his face as he reached the finish line. His parents say he is a true fighter, not letting anyone perceive him as handicapped.  

Despite less than ideal training conditions, as his trainer, Amel Kapo, stated, the “wingless butterfly” continues to break all boundaries.   “I like to compare him to the cartoon character, Hulk. He is so big and strong, but at the same time so gentle,” Kapo said.  

“We are going forward, and this is part of this Bosnian mentality. Now we will show what we can do despite not having those 150 Euro swimming trunks, ours cost 20 Bosnian Marks and we still managed to achieve this,” he Kapo bragged.  

“Now I’m asking – what could we achieve if we had those great conditions, where would we end up?,” the coach pointed out.  

The initiative to present Zulfic with the “Sarajevska Pahuljica” award came from Vibor Handzic, a member of Sarajevo's City Assembly from the Nasa Stranka political party. The award is given out to students of schools and universities in Sarajevo, as well as to individuals and groups that have achieved remarkable results in maintaining and furthering social values.  

“The least we can do as the City of Sarajevo institution is to show respect and give this award to this boy,” Hanzic said.  

“Ismail's success motivates people and gives them hope that we can have a healthy society only when we rear the right values,” he said.

“This is a society where people like Ismail are the ones most marginalized, although they are achieving the best results. They are proof that we can all do better,” he added.  

Full of life and positive energy, Ismail Zulfic is proving that it just takes strong will and persistence to achieve success and that no boundary is insurmountable. 

Ismail claims this is only the start and that he will not stop. He continues to prepare for new challenges.