ZAGREB, 20 July 2022 - Croatia will participate with 76 athletes aged 14 to 18 in the summer European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF), which will be held from 24 to 30 July in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia.

They will compete in eight sports - athletics, badminton, cycling, gymnastics, judo, basketball, swimming and handball.

The Croatian Olympics Committee (HOO) has decided that the flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the EYOF will be Jana Koščak and Petar Šprem.

Heptathlete Jana Koščak won the gold medal at the recently held Junior European Championship (U18) in Jerusalem, where she set a new national record and the fifth result of all time in the world at that age. With that result, she met the norm for participating in the U20 World Athletics Championship, which will be held in early August in Cali, Colombia.

Handball player Petar Šprem is a multiple state champion with the PPD Zagreb team. He has won the award for the best right wing and best scorer in the tournaments in 2019, 2021 and 2022.

Croatia's men's basketball and men's and women's handball teams are the main hopes at EYOF.

A total of 108 Croatians will be in the sports delegation to the EYOF in Banska Bystrica.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

ZAGREB, Sept 15, 2020 - A video conference was held at the Croatian Olympic Committee (HOO) on Tuesday reaffirming that Croatia and China continue to cooperate in sports, notably between the Croatian Table Tennis Federation and the Chinese Embassy in Croatia.

The cooperation, established in 2018, includes sponsorship and exchanges of the coaching staff, which is very important for Croatian table tennis because it has the world's biggest table tennis power as its partner, the HOO said.

Speaking via video link, Chinese Ambassador Xu Erwen recalled Croatia's recent sports successes, adding that Croatia and China did not cooperate only in table tennis, but also in water polo, handball, and gymnastics.

What has always impressed us and what many of my compatriots ask me is that they do not understand how a country of just four million people can achieve such excellent results globally in practically all sports, the ambassador said.

HOO President Zlatko Matesa spoke of handball cooperation. He said that a Chinese team had for the first time participated in the last season of the regional SEHA League.

"They practiced and were accommodated in Croatia, they played games here and were led by a Croatian coaching team. That is a unique example in the world that a Chinese team played in an official competition in Europe, and the link was Croatia," he said.

Matesa also mentioned the excellent cooperation between the Zagreb Faculty of Kinesiology and the Beijing University of Sport. He said that Croatia and China also cooperated in many other areas, citing the construction of the Peljesac Bridge.

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The traditional selection of the Croatian Olympic Committee (HOO) was held on Wednesday evening for the ‘Great Day of Croatian Sports’ at the Westin Hotel in Zagreb. Luka Modric and Sandra Perkovic have thus been declared the best athletes in Croatia, while the Croatia national football team was named the best team by the Croatian Olympic Committee (HOO), reports Gol.hr on December 19, 2018. 

Captain of the Croatia national team (and Ballon d’Or winner) Luka Modrić is the first footballer to celebrate in this HOO category, while Perkovič has been the best for the seventh consecutive year, which has not been achieved by any other Croatian athlete.

Recall, Sandra Perković defended the title of the European Champion for the fifth time in Berlin, which is a record among both male and female athletes in all disciplines. All seven of the world's longest throws this season are by Sandra, and only an illness prevented her from conquering the Diamond League.

Sandra won in the selection in front of shooter Snježana Pejčić, who won the bronze at the World Cup, and the European champion in taekwondo Kristina Tomić.

“For seven years in a row I am the best female athlete, I could not even dream of that. The next year will be used to get ready for the 2020 Olympic Games when I will do something indescribable,” Sandra said.

Luka Modrić had the season of his dreams - from becoming the European Champion with Real Madrid once again to becoming World Cup finalists with Croatia. Luka is the first footballer in history to win all four prestigious awards for 'the best' in a season. Modrić was named the best footballer at the World Cup in Russia, the world's best footballer by FIFA, the best European footballer by UEFA, and the Ballon d’Or winner by the France Football magazine.

Modrić was chosen as the best in Croatia in competition with World Champion and Europe’s second best in karate Ivan Kvesić and two-time silver medalist at the World Championships, sports shooter Petar Gorša. As Modrić was with Real Madrid at the World Club Championship in UAE, his father Stipe received the award on his behalf.

The Croatia national football team was proclaimed the best team in Croatia, ahead of the Davis Cup team and the beach handball team. The award was received by coach Zlatko Dalić, who was also nominated for the best trainer.

“My team is still the most deserving of this award for the best coach. This great synergy has led us to the greatest success of Croatian football in history, but we hope that we can do even more. We showed that everything is possible and that the 'small can be great'. We have good players who can create good results, we have unity in the team and we have to use it in the qualifications for the European Championship and then at the Euro,” Dalić said.

The Croatia football team also received the award for Croatia's largest promoter in the world, which was received by the president of the Croatian Football Federation Davor Šuker.

The award for the most successful sports pair, relay or crew was awarded to rowing World and European Champions in coxless pair, brothers Valent and Martin Sinković. Just one year after they switched disciplines from double sculls, the Sinković brothers conquered the world in their new discipline. In Glasgow, they first took the European Championships and then came to Plovdiv to prevail at the World Championships. 

In this category, second place was won by another brother duo - Šime and Mihovil Fantela - who, like the Sinković brothers, also changed sailing disciplines (classes) and in Denmark, Aarhus sensationally became World Champions in the 49er class.

The most successful women’s team was declared the Croatia karate team, consisting of Ana Marija Bujas Čelan, Ana Lenard, Marina Barac and Alesandra Hassani, who won the bronze at the European Championships. The karate team celebrated in front of the crossbow national team and the volleyball team.

A special HOO award for the promotion of sports went to the Croatian men's tennis team, who won the Davis Cup over France in Lille for the second time in history.

Cyclist Marin Ranteš won the HOO award for fairplay, and Morana Paliković Gruden was awarded the Trophy of the International Olympic Committee "Olympians in Action" in the Gender Equality category.

Finally, the special HOO award "Matija Ljubek" was given to Vjekoslav Šafranić and Branko Omazić from Zagreb, Danko Jerković and Ante Tanfara from Šibenik, and Handball Club Rudar from Ruda near Samobor.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković also attended the ceremony, and congratulated Croatia’s athletes on their great success.

“All of Croatia is living with your successes, which are the successes of Croatia, and you have proven that we are a nation with a winning mentality and character. We all followed the World Cup in Russia which was a mega event that went beyond the scope of sports. And it was nice to follow our tennis players who won the Davis Cup in Lille and got the ’sweet revenge' on our French friends. The role of the state and the government is to encourage Croatian sport, so we have increased the budget of the Central State Office for Sport from 200 to 300 million kuna, and we started withdrawing funds from the European Social Fund for sport projects,” said Plenković.

In addition, Minister of Finance Zdravko Marić, former national team football coach Miroslav Ćiro Blažević, and special guest Japanese Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia, Keiji Takeguchi attended the event.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.