Boško "Klifton" Božinović (born September 27, 1949 − March 5, 2018) was a Croatian conditioning coach and a retired

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

who represented Yugoslavia at the 1975 Mediterranean Games.

Running career

Božinović became the first person from Yugoslavia to have run under 3:40 over 1500 meters when he ran 3:39.3 on June 20, 1975 at an international track meet in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. Later that summer he won the men's 1500 meters at 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 ...

Conditioning coach career

In his years following athletics, Božinović pursued a career in conditioning professional

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 ...

players.

Ivan Katalinić Ivan Katalinić (born 17 May 1951) is a Croatian former footballer and former manager who had a successful playing career with Hajduk Split and Southampton in the 1970s and 1980s. As a member of Hajduk's famous "golden generation" of the 1970s, h ...

, one of

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

's coaches in the early 2000s, appointed Božinović as a conditioning trainer in 2002 after the pair had worked together in NK Varteks. After doing conditioning work with

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, Božinović made a return to Hajduk Split in the summer of 2009. However, on August 6, 2009, Hajduk's coach

Ivica Kalinić Ivica Kalinić (born 26 March 1956) is a Croatian former professional football manager and player. He is currently the sporting director of the club NK Prugovo. He has played for Hajduk Split, Maribor, Osijek, Tirol Innsbruck and Grazer AK in ...

suffered a heart attack in Hajduk's match against

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in the 2009-10 UEFA Europa League qualifiers, and although he survived he had to retire. The loss to Žilina and Kalinić's near death experience destabilized the club. Even though Božinović was appointed by Kalinić in the first place, Hajduk tried to offer Božinović money to terminate his contract due to Kalinić's legally binding contract (in spite of his untimely retirement) allegedly causing Hajduk financial problems. Božinović rejected the offer, favoring that his contract be honored to the end.
Slaven Alfirević. Slobodna Dalmacija: ''Fiorentini odlazi 1. listopada''. August 26, 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2016. He stayed at Hajduk for several years before moving to

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in 2013, only to return to Hajduk in 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:BozinoviC, Bosko Yugoslav male middle-distance runners Croatian male middle-distance runners 1949 births Living people Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Yugoslavian Athletics Championships winners