Barbara Jelić-Ružić (born 8 May 1977) is a former international volleyball player for
Croatia.
Barbara is the sister of volleyball player
Vesna Jelić
Vesna Jelić (born in Novo Mesto), is a former Croatian female volleyball player. She was part of the Croatia women's national volleyball team.
Career
She competed with the national team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, finish ...
who was also part of the Croatian team at the 2000 Summer Olympics. They are the daughters of volleyball player
Ivica Jelić
Ivica Jelić (born 10 August 1952) is a Croatian volleyball player and coach. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1980 Summer Olympics. He is the father of Barbara Jelić-Ružić and Vesna Jelić
Vesna Jelić (born in Novo Mesto), ...
who was the head coach of the Croatian team in 2000 and played for the Yugoslav team at the 1980 Summer Olympics.
Early life and career
Jelić was born in
Novo Mesto,
Slovenia,
Yugoslavia to Croatian father Ivica and Slovenian mother Margareta, both former players. At 17 she went to Japan to play as a professional for five years, where she was frequently honored best player in different categories.
As an outstanding outside and opposite hitter she led the Croatian team with her father Ivica Jelić as coach to three
silver medal
A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...
s at the European Championships 1995, 1997 and 1999, a sensational 7th place at the Olympics in
Sydney 2000 and a 6th place at the World Championship 1998 in Japan. Thereby she often scored more points than the rest of her teammates all together. Accordingly, she was elected best scorer at the WC 1998,
the World Cup 1999, the Olympic Qualification 2000 and more. In 2000, she was honored best player of Europe. She was considered the most valuable player at the Sydney Games.
After her time in Japan she played in the Italian and Turkish league gaining further titles - with an interruption in the 2000–01 season to become a mother - and called it a career in 2004. She briefly returned to support Croatia at the European Championship in her home country in 2005, persuaded by her coach-father to be a
role model
A role model is a person whose behaviour, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people. The term ''role model'' is credited to sociologist Robert K. Merton, who hypothesized that individuals compare themselves ...
for young Croatian girls. After a good 3rd place in preliminaries with outstanding Ružić, Croatia finished ranked 8th with Ružić being slightly injured in the final round.
Personal life
In 2001, she married
Tomislav Ružić
Tomislav Ružić (born July 2, 1979) is a Croatian professional basketball coach and former player.
Personal life
Ružić is married to the former Croatian international volleyball player, Barbara Jelić-Ružić. When Tomislav joined Beşiktaş i ...
, a Croatian basketball player. As of 2015, Jelić-Ružić lives in
Zadar with her husband and two children named Zara and Michael.
[http://www.zadarskilist.hr/clanci/19102008/barbara-jelic]
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jelic-Ruzic, Barbara
1977 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Novo Mesto
Croatian women's volleyball players
Volleyball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Olympic volleyball players for Croatia
Eczacıbaşı Dynavit players
Croatian people of Slovenian descent
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Japan
Outside hitters