In our final article from this Olympic Team introduction series, we present the Croatian teams in Taekwondo, Water Polo, and Rowing. It will be no surprise at all if all three come back from Rio with medals.
Taekwondo
The sport which won three bronze medals for Croatia in the past Olympics, and the last one won was four years ago in London when Lucija Zaninović won one. In Rio, she will be joined by her twin sister Ana Zaninović and Filip Grgić.
Once again, small in numbers but strong on the tatami, all three can be considered contenders to win a medal. Lucija will compete in -57 kg category, Ana is in the -49 category, and Filip will try his best at the -68 one.
The taekwondo competition kicks off on August 17th with Lucija’s battles, while Ana Zaninović and Filip Grgić will hit the tatami the day after.
Water Polo
The reigning Olympic champions, “The Barracudas” hope to repeat the performance from London once again. They will have a strong opponent in the Serbian team, as well as the Hungarian one, but the Croatian water polo team tend to shine on the biggest occasions.
Marko Bijač, Luka Bukić, Damir Burić, Andro Bušlje, Javier Garcia, Maro Joković, Ivan Krapić, Luka Lončar, Marko Macan, Josip Pavić, Antonio Petković, Sandro Sukno, and Anđelo Šetka will represent Croatia at the Olympics in Rio. Five players from the team participated in the London triumph, and that experience should be a big boost for the rest of the team.
Croatia will face the US team on August 6th and later will play Montenegro, Spain, Italy, and France in an effort to reach the play-off stage.
Rowing
Do we need to say that Sinković brothers have been unbeaten for ages now? If there are gold medal favorites in Rio, they are surely one of them. Martin and Valent Sinković are strong favorites, but Damir Martin is a medal contender too.
Croatia has a long and proud rowing tradition, so it is always nice to write about the athletes of that stamina and dedication with a real chance of standing at the winner’s podium at the end of the Olympic competition.
Both crews will start the racing on August 6th, and there is nothing left to say but good luck boys!
TCN will report about the Croatian Teams participation at the Olympics daily, so stay tuned.
