Ivan Ivančić (6 December 1937 – 28 August 2014) was a

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 ...

n athletics coach and

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

ter who represented

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

. He was the gold medalist in the

1975 Mediterranean Games The 1975 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the VII Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Algiers 1975, were the 7th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Algiers, Algeria, from 23 August to 6 September 1975, where 2,444 athletes ...

, as well as a multiple national champion and record holder. As a coach, Ivančić specialized in the throwing events, and was best known for coaching

Sandra Perković Sandra Perković (born 21 June 1990) is a Croatian discus thrower. She is a two-time Olympic (2012, 2016) and World (2013, 2017) champion and record six-time European champion ( 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022) which no other female athlete ...

, an Olympic and two-time World

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

champion.

Biography

Ivančić was born in 1937 in the village of

Grabovica, Tomislavgrad ("hornbeam") , nickname = , motto = , image_map = , map_alt = , map_caption = , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Bosnia and Herzegovina , pu ...

in present-day

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. He finished elementary school and high school in

Tuzla Tuzla (, ) is the third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inhabitants. Tuzla is the economic, cultural, ed ...

, and graduated from the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...

. Ivančić described his entry into athletics as "coincidental": while employed at the Ministry of Transportation in Belgrade, he occasionally competed in shot put at workers' sports games, and good results prompted him to take up athletics more seriously. He joined the

AK Crvena Zvezda AK Crvena zvezda is an athletics club from Belgrade, Serbia. It is part of the sports society SD Crvena Zvezda. Honours and achievements Men *National Championships **Winners (40): 1953, 1954, 1955, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 19 ...

athletics club, where he spent a total of 24 years, interrupted by a four-year spell with

AK Partizan AK Partizan or Atletski Klub Partizan is an athletics club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is part of the sports society JSD Partizan. History The club was founded in 1945, being among the first five clubs of JSD Partizan. Honours Men *National ...

, a rival Belgrade club. He worked as a school teacher for 35 years. Ivančić became the top Yugoslav shot putter in the early to mid-1970s. He won the Yugoslav championship seven times (1970–1975, 1977) and improved the national record six times. He won a gold medal in

in the

, bronze in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, and two bronze medals in the

1980 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 1980 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in Sindelfingen, a city in West Germany, on 1 and 2 March 1980. The championships were boycotted by East Germany. The middle-distance races were hand-timed. The host nation topped the med ...

and the

1983 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 1983 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at Sportcsarnok in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, on 5 and 6 March 1983. In addition, he represented Yugoslavia in the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

and

1976 Summer Olympic Games Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

and in the

1983 World Championships in Athletics The 1st 1983 World Championships in Athletics were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between 7 and 14 August 1983. Summary The overall med ...

in Helsinki, placing 19th, 16th and 12th respectively. His appearance in the shot put final in Helsinki, at the age of 45 years 244 days, makes Ivančić the oldest ever

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

competitor in shot put, as well as the oldest ever World Championships finalist in any event. On 31 August 1983 in

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

, less than a month after the Helsinki final, Ivančić set his personal best of 20.77 m. , this is the world masters record in the M45 category (men 45–49 years of age); no other athlete in this age category has managed to come within two and a half meters of this mark. His 1980 mark of 20.44 m was also a world masters record in the M40 category until it was surpassed in 1985. Ivančić retired from professional competition in 1987, at the age of 50. For some time, he was active in veterans' competitions, but has given them up because he "could not accept the fact that the shot would not go over 20 meters, like it had before". He died in 2014 at the age of 76.

Coaching career

Ivančić entered into coaching in the 1970s, while still actively competing, working with

Vladimir Milić Vladimir Milić ( sr, Владимир Милић; born 23 October 1955) is a retired Serbian shot putter who represented SFR Yugoslavia. He was born in Žegar, SR Croatia, but represented the club AK Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade. He won the gold ...

and Jovan Lazarević, gold medalists in shot put for Yugoslavia at the Mediterranean Games in 1979 and 1983, respectively. After the

breakup of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

, Ivančić coached Croatian athletes such as Edis Elkasević, world junior champion and world junior record holder in shot put, and gold medalist at the Mediterranean Games; Marin Premeru, world youth record holder in shot put;

Ivana Brkljačić Ivana Brkljačić (born 25 January 1983 in Villingen-Schwenningen, West Germany) is a former female hammer thrower from Croatia. Career She achieved good results as a teenager, winning the World Junior Championships twice and finishing 11th in ...

, double world junior champion in hammer throw; and

Darko Kralj Darko Kralj (born 6 June 1971) is a Croatian Paralympic athlete competing mainly in shot put events. He lost his left leg in a missile attack in 1991. At the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, he won a gold medal in the men's F42 shot put eve ...

, Paralympic champion, world champion and world record holder in shot put. Ivančić coached

, the

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 ...

er, whom he recognized as a talent in discus throw. In her first year with Ivančić, she improved her personal best from 32 to over 50 meters. After winning gold at the

2009 European Athletics Junior Championships The 20th European Athletics Junior Championships were held between 23 and 26 July 2009 in the Stadion Karađorđe in Novi Sad, Serbia. Germany topped the medal table with 25 medals overall, including 10 golds, ahead of Russia and Ukraine. Medal ...

, Perković became the youngest ever European champion in discus throw at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Cat ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, and successfully defended her title two years later in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivancic, Ivan 1937 births 2014 deaths Sportspeople from Tomislavgrad Bosnia and Herzegovina male shot putters Croatian male shot putters Yugoslav male shot putters Olympic athletes for Yugoslavia Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Croatian athletics coaches University of Belgrade Faculty of Sport and Physical Education alumni World record holders in masters athletics Croatian masters athletes Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Yugoslavia Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Mediterranean Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Mediterranean Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Yugoslavia Franjo Bučar Award winners Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Yugoslavian Athletics Championships winners