Emir Bekrić ( sr-cyr, Емир Бекрић, born 14 March 1991) is a former

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

who specialises and holds the Serbian national record for the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ...

. He is coached by Mirjana Stojanović. In 2013, Bekrić became the first male track and field athlete from Serbia to win a medal at the IAAF Outdoor World Championships. In the same year he won the award European athletics rising star, as well as golden badge for Serbian athlete of the year.

Early life

Born to a Bosniak father and a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

mother, Emir has a sister named Sena. He is an Orthodox Christian, and has said that religion and Orthodoxy are very important for him and have helped him in his career.

Hurdling career

Bekrić won a bronze medal at the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships in

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four riv ...

. At the 2011 Summer Universiade in

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

he broke the national record in semifinal for the

400 meter hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ar ...

, breaking 50 seconds and beating Jeshua Anderson who later won the gold medal in the finals. At the 2012 European Championships he again broke national record in semifinals. In the final he won a silver medal. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Bekrić broke the Serbian national record for the 400m hurdles for the third time with a time of 49.21 seconds. At the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013) () was an international athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013. Initially, Russia won the most gold medals to top the table for the first time since 200 ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

he won the bronze medal and posted the new national record with a time of 48.05 seconds.

Personal bests

Outdoor

Indoor

Achievements

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bekric, Emir 1991 births Living people Athletes from Belgrade Serbian male hurdlers Olympic athletes of Serbia Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Serbia Athletes (track and field) at the 2013 Mediterranean Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Serbia European Athletics Championships medalists Members of the Serbian Orthodox Church Bosniaks of Serbia European Athletics Rising Star of the Year winners Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics