Borislav Dević (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Борислав Девић; 9 January 1963 – 8 January 2023)Tužna vest je stigla iz sidneja! Napustio nas je čuveni reprezentativac - Borislav Dević preminuo samo dan pred 60. rođendan!
was a Serbian track athlete and

marathoner The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

who specialized in various disciplines in middle-distance and long-distance races. He represented

Yugoslavia at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. These Games were the first Olympic appearance of Montenegrin and Serbian athletes under the Flag of the Federal Republic of Yugosla ...

Running career

Dević was born in Donje Biljane, a small village in Ravni Kotari. Growing up in Kninska Krajina, he first specialized in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

. He became one of the most competitive middle-distance track runners in all of SR Croatia and ran at the

1987 Summer Universiade The 1987 Summer Universiade, also known as the XIV Summer Universiade, took place in Zagreb, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia. It involved participants from 111 countries and over 6,000 individual sportspersons and members of teams. Infrastructural cha ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

. When Yugoslavia began to break up, he moved briefly to

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

, but soon took refuge in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

while his parents moved to live in the United States. Being without his parents or any close relatives in

, he was invited by

Goran Raičević Goran Raičević (Serbian Cyrillic: Горан Раичевић, June 26, 1963 – May 6, 1999) was a Serbian long-distance runner. He won three Balkan Cross Country Championships for Yugoslavia in 1990, 1992, and 1994. His son Nikola Raičević ...

and his wife Jelena to live with them. He formed a very close friendship with Raičević, and their training together lasted up to the time when Dević ran the men's marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics, finishing in 49th place of 111 finishers with a time of 2:21:22. He finished in seventh place at the 1997

Belgrade Marathon The Belgrade Marathon is a marathon race held annually in Belgrade since 1988. It is typically held in mid-April and also features a half marathon and a fun run for the public. The Belgrade Marathon is one of the biggest sporting events i ...

in a time of 2:16:01. After the end of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Dević moved to Australia. A Japanese movie director, who was fascinated by Dević's life story and his friendship with Raičević, planned to make a documentary about Dević's career. He passed away on January 8 2023, one day before his 60th birthday. His funeral was held on January 12 2023 in Cabramatta Serbian Orthodox Church and was buried at Liverpool Cemetery, both the funeral and burial were attended by hundreds of people including close friends, family and young athletes he had trained throughout the years following his move to Australia.

Notes

* Although Dević was of Serbian nationality, all of his results in international competition date before the

Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro The Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Уставна повеља Србије и Црне Горе, ''Ustavna povelja Srbije i Crne Gore'') came into force on 4 February 2003, creating a confederacy between Serbia and Montene ...

, so the country he represented in athletics is cited as

SFR SFR (; ''Société française du radiotéléphone'', ) is a French telecommunications company. As of December 2015, it had 21.9 million customers in Metropolitan France for mobile services, and provided 6.35 million households with high-spee ...

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup A relationship breakup, breakup, or ...

. Some of Dević's personal best results are maintained as Serbian results by Serbia's Athletic Association's all-time best lists.

References

1963 births 2023 deaths Serbs of Croatia Serbian male middle-distance runners Serbian male long-distance runners Serbian male marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Yugoslavia Yugoslav male marathon runners Yugoslav male middle-distance runners Yugoslav male long-distance runners {{Serbia-athletics-bio-stub