Milan Neralić (26 February 1875 in Slunj – 17 February 1918 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) was a Croatian fencer who competed in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Biography

Born to a Croatian family, he was the first person from Croatia to take part in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

and the first one to win a medal. Neralić joined the army in 1893 and in 1895 took part in the Vienna newtown military fencing and gymnastics instructor course. His teachers included Heinrich Tenner and Rudolf Brosch. He participated in fencing at the 1900 Summer Olympics in

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and won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the Master's

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

. He was defeated by Italian fencer Italo Santelli in the semi-final. Neralić spent most of his life in

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and

working as fencing instructor. His most notable student was Richard Verderber, winner of the silver (saber team) and bronze (foil) medals at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. On February 26 2022, Neralić got a statue in his hometown.

References

External links

* 1875 births 1918 deaths People from Slunj Sportspeople from Karlovac County Croatian male sabre fencers Olympic bronze medalists for Austria Olympic fencers for Austria Fencers at the 1900 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 1900 Summer Olympics Theresian Military Academy alumni Austrian male sabre fencers {{Austria-Olympic-medalist-stub