Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe on the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Italy to the west and southwest. Its capital and largest city, Zagreb, forms one of the country's primary subdivisions, with twenty counties. Croatia has 56,594 square kilometres and a population of 4.07 million.
City Stadium in Poljud, also known as Poljud Stadium or simply Poljud, is a multi-use stadium in Split, Croatia which has been the home ground of the Hajduk Split football club since 1979. The stadium is located in the neighbourhood of Poljud, which belongs to city district of Spinut. It was opened in September 1979, and has a seating capacity of 34,198.
HAŠK Mladost is an academic sports society from Zagreb, Croatia, sponsored by the University of Zagreb. Clubs named Mladost exist in athletics, field hockey, judo, basketball, bowling on ice and asphalt, fencing, volleyball, swimming, rugby, synchronised swimming, skiing, ice-hockey, ice skating, table tennis, archery, chess, tennis, water polo and rowing.
Gradski vrt Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Osijek, Croatia. It is located in the Gradski vrt neighbourhood in Novi grad city district. With a capacity of 17,061, it has been the home ground of two Croatian football clubs, NK Osijek and Fortuna VNO Osijek.
Blanka Vlašić is a Croatian former track and field athlete who specialises in the high jump. She is a two-time world champion and double Olympic medallist who ranks as the joint second highest female jumper of all time with her personal best of 2.08 m. She is the Croatian record holder in the event, and the former indoor world champion.
Franjo Mihalić was a former Yugoslav and Croatian long-distance runner best known for his 1958 win at the Boston Marathon and his marathon silver medal in the 1956 Summer Olympics. Mihalić competed mostly in marathons, road races and cross country races, distinguishing himself by winning many top-level international competitions in the 1950s and setting a combined 25 Croatian and later Yugoslavian national records in long-distance track events between 5000 m and 25 km. In 1957, he became the inaugural winner of the Golden Badge, the award for the best sportsperson of Yugoslavia awarded by the daily Sport. He is regarded as the most accomplished male athlete in the history of Croatian, Serbian and Yugoslav track and field.
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.
Croatia competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics from 15 to 23 August. A team of 5 athletes was announced in preparation for the competition. Selected athletes have achieved one of the competition's qualifying standards. Blanka Vlašić defended her high jump world title.
Sandra Perković is a Croatian discus thrower. She is a two-time Olympic and World champion and a five-time European champion. She is the only individual who managed to win five gold medals at the European Athletics Championships in one event. She is six-time Diamond League overall winner.
Hanžeković Memorial is an athletics event at the Sportski Park Mladost athletic stadium in Zagreb, Croatia as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1951.
Ivan Mustapić is a former Croatian javelin thrower. He competed for Croatia at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He was also Croatian national javelin throw champion four times. His personal best throw was 82.70 metres, achieved in 1992. He competed at the World Championships in Athletics on three occasions, having his best finish (20th) in 1993.
Luciano Sušanj is a Croatian politician, sports worker and former track athlete who competed for Yugoslavia. Sušanj was successful in international competition over 400 and 800 meters, but is best known for winning the 800 meters European title in 1974.
Ivan Ivančić was a Bosnian-Croatian athletics coach and shot putter who represented Yugoslavia. He was the gold medalist in the 1975 Mediterranean Games, as well as a multiple national champion and record holder. As a coach, Ivančić specialized in the throwing events, and was best known for coaching Sandra Perković, an Olympic and two-time European discus throw champion.
Croatia competed at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics from August 27 to September 4 in Daegu, South Korea. A team of 6 athletes represented the country in the event. The team was led by defending high jump champion and medal hope Blanka Vlašić.
The 50 kilometre race walk is an Olympic athletics event. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supporting leg must remain straight until the raised leg passes it. Fifty kilometres is approximately 31 miles.
Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics will be held during the last ten days of the Games. They were due to be held from 31 July – 9 August 2020, at the Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the games have been postponed with the track and field events set for 30 July – 8 August 2021. The sport of athletics at these Games is split into three distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking events. A total of 48 events will be held, one more than in 2016, with the addition of a mixed relay event.
Andrea Ivančević is a Croatian track and field athlete who specialises in the 100 metres hurdles. She has a best of 12.85 seconds for the event which is as well Croatian national record. She holds Croatian records in the indoor 60 metres and 60 metres hurdles. Ivančević has represented Croatia at the European Athletics Championships, European Athletics Indoor Championships and the IAAF World Indoor Championships
The Women's 800 metres event at the 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships was held in Tampere, Finland, at Ratina Stadium on 11 and 12 July.
The 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held from 4 to 7 March 2021 at the Arena Toruń in Toruń, Poland. This was the second time this event was held in Poland after the 1975 edition in Katowice. The four-day competition featured 13 men's and 13 women's athletics events. Altogether 659 athletes from 46 countries participated in the event which is a record in the competition's history. The Netherlands topped the medal table for the first time with four gold, one silver and two bronze medals.
