August 8, 2021 - Debutant Mihovil Župa is the winner of the 306th Sinjska Alka, which was held on Sunday afternoon in the Inland Dalmatian town of Sinj.
Mihovil Župa thus won the 306th Sinjska Alka with three hits 'u sridu' (in the middle) with five hits 'in two'.
This year, 17 Alkars competed, including four debutants. With this event, the people of Sinj mark an important moment in their history, when they defended themselves from the invasion of the Ottoman Empire.
The Alka festivities were attended by the Croatian state leadership, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović, who is also the patron of the Sinjska Alka, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia Andrej Plenković, and the President of the Croatian Parliament Gordan Jandroković. Among others, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Croatian Veterans Tomo Medved, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman, and Minister of Agriculture Marija Vučković were present.
Furthermore, Olympic gold medalist Martin Sinković (half of the celebrated Sinković brothers), taekwondo gold medalist Matea Jelić, and bronze medalist Toni Kanaet were also present and received a standing ovation from the crowd when their attendance was announced at the beginning of the event.
Due to epidemiological circumstances, this year's Sinjska Alka was held with a limited number of spectators.
Sinjska Alka is a Croatian knight's game held every year on a Sunday in August, in Sinj, to mark the anniversary of the victory over the Turkish invaders on August 14, 1715. On that day, 700 Croatian soldiers from Sinj, with the protection of their patron saint, the Miraculous Lady of Sinj, heroically resisted and managed to repel the onslaught of Turkish serasker Mehmed-pasha Celic's army, which was made up of 60,000 soldiers.
On November 15, 2010, Sinjska Alka was inscribed on the UNESCO list of intangible world heritage in Europe.
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