Žana Lelas (28 May 1970 – 15 September 2021) was a Croatian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. She represented

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

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in basketball and is regarded as one of few players to have represented two nations at international level. She was married to Vjekoslav Lokica, a renowned

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach.

Career

Zana Lelas was the winner of the bronze medal with the Yugoslavia U16 team at the 1987 FIBA European Championship. She was also the top scorer of the 1987 FIBA U-16 European Championship averaging 26.6 points per game. Lelas was part of the Yugoslavian side that clinched the silver medal in the women's basketball competition at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

. She was a key member of the Yugoslavia U19 side which emerged as runners-up to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

at the 1989 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. Lelas also secured a silver medal with the

side at the EuroBasket Women 1991 which was Yugoslavia's fourth loss in a

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

final. Lelas played most of her matches representing Yugoslavia, but later in her career she represented

at the

EuroBasket Women 1995 The 1995 EuroBasket Women, European Women Basketball Championship, commonly called EuroBasket Women 1995, was the 25th regional championship held by FIBA Europe. The competition was held in Brno in Czech Republic and took place from 8 June to 18 ...

where Croatia eventually made its EuroBasket tournament debut. She was the top scorer for ŽKK Croatia 2006 Zagreb in the 1995

Ronchetti Cup The Ronchetti Cup (called till 1996 ''European Cup Liliana Ronchetti'' and ''European Cup Winners' Cup'' till 1974) was an annual women's basketball European club competition held by FIBA between the years 1972 and 2002. It was the second competit ...

, averaging 20.9 points per game. After her retirement, she began coaching basketball at Žana Lelas Basketball Academy, which she founded in July 2016. Žana Lelas died on 15 September 2021 at the age of 51.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lelas, Zana 1970 births 2021 deaths Basketball players from Split, Croatia Croatian women's basketball players Yugoslav women's basketball players Centers (basketball) ŽKK Šibenik players Olympic basketball players for Yugoslavia Basketball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Olympic medalists in basketball Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Burials at Lovrinac Cemetery