Milena "Milka" Babović (27 October 1928 – 26 December 2020) was a Croatian sprint and hurdles runner and journalist. She won numerous sprinting events in the former

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 ...

, and was selected the best athlete several times. She also had a noted career as a sports journalist and editor in television.

Life

Babović was born in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

to a Montenegrin father and a

Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

(

Danube Swabian The Danube Swabians ( ) is a collective term for the ethnic German-speaking population who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary in east-central Europe, especially in the Danube River valley, first in the 12th century, and in greater numbers in the 17 ...

) mother, and grew up in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, but moved to

Ruma Ruma (; ) is a town and municipality in the Srem District of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the town has a population of 27,747, while the municipality has a population of 48,621. History Traces of organized human life ...

and

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in high school. She graduated in pedagogy at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

. Having taken up sports in Ruma, she joined Mladost in Zagreb and started to compete in sprinting events. Starting in 1953, she won the Yugoslav national titles in the 100 m (once), 80 m hurdles (seven), 4 × 100 m relay (seven), and 4 × 200 m relay events (two). She set several Yugoslav sprinting records, and won two international student competitions in the 80 m hurdles in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

and

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

; at the 1954 European Championships she placed fifth. In the ''Sportske novosti'' awards polling, she was voted the best female athlete in Croatia three times and was twice the best female athlete of Yugoslavia. She worked as a sports journalist for ''

Narodni sport ''Sportske novosti'' () is a Croatian daily sports newspaper based in Zagreb. The newspaper was established on 9 August 1945 as ''Ilustrirane fiskulturne novine'' weekly newspaper. Several months later, on 10 December 1945, its name was change ...

'' since 1949, and moved to

TV Zagreb HRT 1 (HTV 1, ''"Prvi program"'') is a Croatian television channel, operated by public broadcaster Hrvatska Radiotelevizija (HRT).Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. - Annual Report, 2007'. Kuching: Acquisdata Pty Ltd. Accessed July 28, 2024. � ...

in 1957 where she became the first sports editor. She served in that position, barring one four-year interruption, until 1975. She was a multiple-time president of the sport journalist section of the

Croatian Journalist Association The Croatian Journalists' Association ( or HND) is a Croatian association based in Zagreb aimed at promoting freedom of the press and free speech in journalism. The association was founded in December 1910 and has over 3,000 members. It arranges ...

, served as a member of the

Yugoslav Olympic Committee The Yugoslav Olympic Committee (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенски олимпијски комитет, Jugoslovenski olimpijski komitet, separator=" / "; ; ; also known by the acronym JOK) was the non-profit organization representing Yug ...

in two mandates, and was a one-time member of the Executive Council of the Assembly of the

City of Zagreb A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

. Babović was decorated with awards from the Journalist Association in 1974, the City of Zagreb in 1977, and the Yugoslav Order of Brotherhood and Unity with a silver wreath in 1979. She died on 26 December 2020, from the effects of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia The COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The first case in the Republic of Croatia was reported in Zagreb on 25 February 2020, when a patient who had come from Italy was tested positive. On the ...

References

External links

Milka Babović – Stranica mog života
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babovic, Milka 1928 births 2020 deaths Sportspeople from Skopje Sportspeople from Sarajevo Croatian female sprinters Journalists from Zagreb Croatian female hurdlers Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia Croatian people of Montenegrin descent Croatian people of German descent Danube-Swabian people University of Zagreb alumni Yugoslavian Athletics Championships winners