Slovenia competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's fourth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics since the post-Yugoslav era. The Slovenian Olympic Committee sent the nation's largest ever delegation to the Games in Olympic history. A total of 79 athletes, 56 men and 23 women, competed in 10 sports. For the second consecutive time, men's handball was the only team-based sport in which Slovenia had its representation at these Games.
Slovenia competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Slovenia won their first two summer Olympic gold medals at these games.
The Croatia national handball team represents Croatia in international men's team handball competitions and friendly matches. The handball team is controlled by the Croatian Handball Federation (HRS).
Ivano Balić is a Croatian former professional handballer who is currently working as assistant coach of the Croatia national handball team. He was voted five times in a row as the most valuable player in major international competitions, and is one of only four male handball players who received the IHF World Player of the Year award on two occasions. He was voted the best handball player in history in an online poll organized by the International Handball Federation (IHF).
Slavko Goluža is a retired Croatian handball player and current coach of RK Zagreb.
Valter Matošević is a former Croatian team handball player who was at the goalkeeper position. He played for professional teams in Croatia, Germany, Spain, Denmark and Italy. He is current handball coach.
Sport in Croatia has significant role in Croatian culture, and many local sports clubs as well as the Croatian national squads enjoy strong followings in the country. The most enduring sport by far in Croatia is football, and is played on amateur and professional levels amongst all age groups across the entire country. Several other major team sports are handball, basketball and water polo, with clubs in all parts of Croatia. Ice hockey is another popular team sport, namely in the Croatian interior. The most popular individual sports in Croatia are tennis, alpine skiing, and swimming, and to some extent table tennis and chess. Various amateur sport games are popular in Croatia, notably picigin.
Zdravko Zovko is a retired Croatian handball player.
Alvaro Načinović is a former Croatian handball player who competed for Yugoslavia and Croatia respectively.
Petar Metličić is a retired Croatian handball player. He was captain of the Croatian national team from 2006 to 2009, after the departure of Slavko Goluža. He won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens as well as at the 2003 World Championship in Portugal.
Igor Vori is a Croatian retired handball player and current coach. He is currently working as the sports director of the Croatian national team.
Drago Vuković, is a former Croatian handball player. He is Olympic champion from 2004 with the Croatian national team, and he received a silver medal at the 2008 and 2010 European championships, and bronze medals at the 2012 Olympics, the 2013 World Championships and 2012 European Championships. He is the twin brother of the football player, the goalkeeper of RNK Split, Andrija Vuković.
Blaženko Lacković is a retired Croatian handball player.
Vedran Zrnić is a Croatian professional handball player for Nexe Našice. He is World champion from 2003, and Olympic champion from 2004 with the Croatia national team. He received a silver medal at the 2005 World championship.
Domagoj Duvnjak is a Croatian professional handball player for THW Kiel and the Croatia national team. Duvnjak is regarded as one of the best handball players of all time alongside fellow Croatian Ivano Balić.
Renato Sulić is a Croatian handball player who currently plays for RK Zamet.
Ágnes Farkas is a former Hungarian handball player. She won a gold medal at the 2000 European Championship, and earned a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and at the 1995 and 2003 World Championships.
Iztok Puc was a Croatian-Slovenian handball player, who was one of the world's top players of the 1980s and 1990s. During his career he played professionally for Borac Banja Luka, Zagreb, Celje and Prule 67. He won a total of 18 domestic trophies. He has won the elite EHF Champions League in 1992 and 1993, both times with Zagreb. He is one of very few handball players who represented three different countries at the Summer Olympics, winning bronze with Yugoslavia in 1988 and gold with Croatia in 1996. In 2009, he was named the best overall player in the history of Slovenian handball. After his death an award named in his honour was introduced and is awarded annually to the most promising young handball players in Slovenia and Croatia, given alternately one year to Slovenian and another year to Croatian player.
Zlatko Šimenc is a retired Croatian water polo player and coach (1969-1975) of Slovenian origin. He was part of the Yugoslav teams that won a silver medal at the 1964 Olympics and placed fourth in 1960. He won three more medals at the European championships in 1958–1966.
Lidija Benedetič-Lapajne is a Slovenian retired athlete. She competed in the women's high jump at the 1980 Summer Olympics and the 1984 Summer Olympics, representing Yugoslavia. She set six Yugoslav national records over the course of her career.
