Vera Nikolić (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Вера Николић; 23 September 1948 – 28 June 2021) was a Serbian middle-distance runner, who competed at the

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

and 1972 Olympics, and later coach. She had her best achievements in the 800 m event, in which she won European titles in 1966 and 1971 and set a world record, 2:00.5, on 20 July 1968 holding it until 11 July 1971. She came to the 1968 Olympics as a favorite, but due to the pressure of being the favoritewww.blicsport.rs Vera Nikolić: Za mene je Bekrić vanzemaljac, ali ne stvarajmo pritisak sportistima
/ref> she gave up her semifinal – after leading it for 300 m she suddenly stepped off the track, walked back to the start, sat down and took off her shoes. She set her personal best in 800 m in finishing fifth in the final at 1972 Olympics. Nikolić received a

Golden Badge ''Sport'' ( sr-Cyrl, Спорт) was a Serbian daily sports newspaper. The first edition was published on 5 May 1945 under the name ''Fiskultura'' and the last edition went out on 17 September 2016. Since the mid-2000s it was billed as "Dnevni s ...

of ''

Sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

'', award for the best athlete of

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

in 1966.

References

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* * 1948 births 2021 deaths People from Despotovac Serbian female middle-distance runners Yugoslav female middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Yugoslavia Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics World record setters in athletics (track and field) European Athletics Championships medalists Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Athletes (track and field) at the 1971 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics {{Yugoslavia-athletics-bio-stub