Jovica Elezović (; born 2 March 1956) is a Serbian former

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

coach and player who competed for Yugoslavia in the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

and in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

Club career

Elezović started playing handball for his hometown club Vrbas at the age of 19. He also spent one season with

Crvenka Crvenka () is a small town located in the municipality of Kula in the West Bačka District, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a Serbian ethnic majority, and it had a population of 9,001 in 2011. Name In Serbian, th ...

, before joining

Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian Serb professional football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the main ...

in 1977. Over the years, Elezović established himself as one of the best players in Yugoslavia, helping his team win the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

in the 1980–81 season. He also played with Proleter Zrenjanin for one season, before going abroad. In 1985, Elezović moved to Germany and signed with Reinickendorfer Füchse. He would also play for fellow German teams TuS Hofweier and

TUSEM Essen TUSEM Essen is a handball club from Essen, Germany. Currently, they compete in the 2. Handball-Bundesliga. Accomplishments *Handball-Bundesliga: 3 **: 1986, 1987, 1989 *DHB-Pokal: 3 **: 1988, 1991, 1992 *EHF Champions League: 1 **: 1988 * EHF ...

. Before retiring, Elezović spent one season with Spanish club Cajamadrid.

International career

At international level, Elezović competed for

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

in two Olympic tournaments, winning the gold medal in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. He was also a regular member of the team that won the 1986 World Championship.

Coaching career

After starting his coaching career at his parent club Vrbas, Elezović spent four seasons as head coach of Partizan, winning three consecutive

championships In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

(1992–93, 1993–94, and 1994–95) and two successive

cups CUPS (formerly an acronym for Common UNIX Printing System) is a modular printing system for Unix-like computer operating systems which allows a computer to act as a print server. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs ...

(1992–93 and 1993–94). Shortly prior to the 1997 World Championship, Elezović was appointed as head coach for

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

Personal life

Elezović is the father of fellow handball player

Uroš Elezović Uroš Elezović (; born 28 January 1982) is a Serbian former handball player. Currently he is the head coach of Jugović member of Serbian Handball Super League. Club career After starting out at Vrbas, Elezović played for Sintelon and Par ...

Honours

Player

;Borac Banja Luka * Yugoslav Championship: 1980–81 * Yugoslav Cup: 1978–79

Coach

;Partizan * Championship of FR Yugoslavia: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1998–99 * Cup of FR Yugoslavia: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98

References

External links

Olympic record
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elezovic, Jovica 1956 births Living people Sportspeople from Vrbas Serbian male handball players Yugoslav male handball players Olympic handball players for Yugoslavia Olympic gold medalists for Yugoslavia Handball players at the 1980 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Competitors at the 1983 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Mediterranean Games medalists in handball RK Vrbas players RK Crvenka players RK Borac Banja Luka players RK Proleter Zrenjanin players Handball-Bundesliga players Liga ASOBAL players Serbian expatriate handball players in Germany Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian handball coaches Yugoslav handball coaches Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Spain Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbia and Montenegro male handball players Handball coaches of international teams Expatriate handball coaches Serbia and Montenegro sports coaches