Janica Kostelić is a Croatian former alpine ski racer. She is a four-time Olympic gold medalist. In addition to the Olympics, she won five gold medals at the World Championships. In World Cup competition, she won thirty individual races, three overall titles, three slalom titles, and four combined titles. Kostelic's accomplishments in professional skiing have led some commentators, writers, and fellow ski racers to regard her as the greatest female ski racer of all time.
Branko Zorko is a Croatian retired middle distance runner who specialized in the 1500 metres. Zorko competed in the 1500 metres in five Olympic Games, from 1988 to 2004, making it through to the semi-finals in 1992 and 1996. He won bronze medals at the 1993 World Indoor Championships in Toronto and the 1994 European Championships in Helsinki. In 1992 he was awarded the Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport. He was born in Hodošan.
Ivica Olić is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is an assistant coach of the Croatia national team.
Ivica Kostelić is a Croatian former alpine ski racer. He specialized in slalom and combined, but was also one of the few alpine World Cup ski racers able to score points in all disciplines. He is the brother of skiing champion Janica Kostelić. In his career he was coached by his father Ante Kostelić, as well as by Kristian Ghedina and Tomislav Krstičević.
Croatia competed at the Olympic Games for the first time as an independent nation in 1992, and has participated in every Games since then.
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.
Athlete of the Year is an award given by various sports organizations for the athlete whom they have determined to be deserving of such recognition.
Natko Zrnčić-Dim is a Croatian alpine ski coach and retired World Cup skier. He won a bronze medal in super combined at the World Championships in 2009 at Val-d'Isère, France, and is a member of SK Medveščak.
Sportske Novosti award is an annual football award established in 2001 by the Croatian daily sports newspaper Sportske novosti. It is awarded to the highest polling football player. The newspaper polls top coaches and players for the occasion.
Sportske novosti is a Croatian daily sports newspaper based in Zagreb.
Joško Vlašić is a Croatian athletics coach and a former decathlete who represented Yugoslavia. Vlašić's greatest competitive success was winning the decathlon gold medal at the 1983 Mediterranean Games, but he is best known for coaching his daughter Blanka Vlašić, a world champion high jumper.
The Sportske novosti Yellow Shirt award or SN Yellow Shirt for short is an annual football award given by the Croatian sports daily Sportske novosti. It is awarded to the best football player playing in the Croatian First League at the end of every season, based on post-match ratings awarded by sports journalists over the course of a season.
Patrik Ćavar is a retired Croatian handball player. The legendary left wing played in Croatia for Mehanika Metković, Badel 1862 Zagreb and Agram Medveščak, in Bosnia and Herzegovina for Borac Banja Luka, in Spain for FC Barcelona, BM Granollers, and in France for Saint-Marcel Vernon.
Croatia participated at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Croatian delegation consisted of nineteen athletes in four sports.
Perica Vlašić was a Croatian rower who competed for Yugoslavia at the 1956 Summer Olympics and at the 1960 Summer Olympics. He also competed in seven European Rowing Championships and won eight consecutive Yugoslav championships in the single scull, as well as seven double scull national championships.
The Croatian Footballer of the Year is the most prestigious annual association football award in Croatia. It is awarded by the newspaper Večernji list to the best Croatian football player in the preceding year, regardless of the league they play in, based on a points system which measures their performances for both club and country. The award is usually presented in a ceremony hosted by the Croatian Football Federation.
The Prva HNL Player of the Year award was an annual association football award given by the Croatian newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija. It was awarded to the best football player who plied his trade in the Prva HNL, Croatian top flight and winners were chosen by the newspaper's sports editors. Winners for the preceding year were usually announced around 1 January and all players who had spent the entire calendar year playing in the league were eligible for the award, regardless of their nationality. The award was established in 1992 and lasted until 2010 when it was awarded for the last time.
Elias Kolega is a retired Croatian alpine ski racer, who competed primarily in slalom events.
Ante Kostelić is a Croatian former handball player, and handball and skier coach. He is best known for coaching his children, Croatian skiers Janica and Ivica Kostelić, who won the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, overall FIS Alpine World Cup and Olympic titles between 2001 and 2014. As head coach of the ŽRK Osijek handball club he won the 1981–82 IHF Women's Cup Winners' Cup. He has been honoured with numerous awards including the Croatian Olympic Committee's Matija Ljubek Award (2001), Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport (2003) and the Order of Duke Branimir.
The Youth Sports Games are organised amateur sports competitions for children and youth of elementary and high school age. They were founded in Split in 1996 and have since grown into the largest amateur sports event in Europe for school-age children. These games are held in Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
SFR Yugoslavia competition (1950–1990)
