Dubravko Šimenc (born 2 November 1966 in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

) is a former

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player who competed for both

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, and later water polo coach. Dubravko Šimenc's father Zlatko was a water polo player who won the silver medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics playing for Yugoslavia, and also a professor at the Faculty of

Kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human healt ...

. Šimenc's mother was a volleyball player. As a boy, Šimenc played many different sports. He started to play water polo in 1975. Šimenc's first major medal was silver in the 1985 European Championships with Yugoslavia. The following year, his club Mladost won the World Champion title in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. He was given the honour to carry the national flag of Croatia at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, becoming the 20th water polo player to be a

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics. He gave support to

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (; born 29 April 1968) is a Croatian politician and diplomat who served as President of Croatia from 2015 to 2020. She was the first woman to be elected to the office since the first multi-party elections in 1990 and ...

at the 2014–15 Croatian presidential election.

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* 1966 births Living people Croatian male water polo players Croatian water polo coaches Yugoslav male water polo players Olympic silver medalists for Croatia in water polo Olympic water polo players of Yugoslavia Olympic gold medalists for Yugoslavia Water polo players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Zagreb Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Croatian people of Slovenian descent Expatriate water polo players Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy {{Yugoslavia-waterpolo-bio-stub

See also

References

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