The newest and youngest Croatian gold medalist in Rio had help from another gold medalist - Sandra Perković
Sara Kolak, the newest Croatian Olympic gold medalist, was born in Ludbreg, often dubbed “the centre of the world.” The javelin thrower impressed the world and almost did so without her own javelin, as Večernji List reported on August 19, 2016.
“I came to Rio hoping to fight with the best, but still can’t believe what I’ve achieved. My goal was to reach 65 metres, but it really went far this time,” said a joyous Sara after the finals.
Her success, besides herself and her work, is owed to her persistent parents who made it possible, coach Andrej Hajnsek, but also the other Croatian gold medalist - Sandra Perković. Although five years older, she took Sara in as her own, made friends and helped her mostly with advice. But, she also helped her by buying her a javelin of her own!
“She had won the junior bronze and didn’t have a javelin of her own. Considering Thorkildsen was her favourite thrower, I bought her his javelin, had a case made engraved “Sara Kolak Croatia” and got Thorkildsen to sign it for extra motivation,” Perković said.
Sandra thus enabled in the best possible way for Sara to develop her talent and helped Croatia boast of two golden girls in the queen of sports. It was only fitting that Sandra handed Sara the Croatian flag after the javelin finals. Truly a movie script.
