Slobodan Branković (; born 1 October 1967) is a

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n former

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who specialised in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

. He is currently the general secretary of the

Athletics Federation of Serbia The Athletics Federation of Serbia () is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Serbia. Olympic Games World Championships ''included: IAAF: World outdoor championship, World indoor championship, World half marathon championship, World ...

. He competed internationally for the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

and then the

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

. He represented the former nation 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 ...

, but (like a handful of other Yugoslavian athletes) competed as an individual under the Olympic flag at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

. Branković was the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

list over

at the

1992 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 1992 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in 1992 in Genoa, Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a pen ...

, a feat which gained him the "

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 ...

" as the '' Спорт'' newspaper's Yugoslav sportsperson of the year. He participated in the

IAAF World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

on three occasions (1987, 1991, 1993). He set Yugoslavian records in the

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

and remains the holder of a variety of indoor and outdoor Serbian national records in distances from

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

to 400 m.

Career

Born in

Obrenovac Obrenovac ( sr-cyr, Обреновац, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 68,882 inhabitants, while the urban area has 25,380 inhabitants. The old name for Obreno ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

and affiliated with the city's athletic club,

AK Partizan AK Partizan or Atletski Klub Partizan is an athletics club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is part of the sports society JSD Partizan. History The club was founded in 1945, being among the first five clubs of JSD Partizan. Honours Men *National ...

, he made his first appearance on the world stage representing the

. Forming part of the

team at the

1987 World Championships in Athletics The 2nd World Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations were held in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy between August 28 and September 6, 1987. Men's results Track 1983 , 1987 , ...

, he ran a national Yugoslavian record time of 3:03.30 minutes with Branislav Karaulić,

Slobodan Popović Slobodan Popović (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Cyrillic: Слободан Поповић; born 28 September 1962) is a Serbs, Serbian former Middle distance running, middle distance runner who primarily competed in the 800 metres. He represented h ...

and Ismail Mačev. At the age of twenty, he ran in the

heats at the

1988 Seoul 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 repres ...

and improved the national relay record to 3:01.59 minutes in the semi-finals of the relay event. At the start of 1989 Branković ran an indoor personal best over

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

of 21.24 seconds in Turin – this mark remains the Serbian national record. He narrowly missed out on a medal in the 400 m at the

1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2nd IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Budapest Sportcsarnok in Budapest, Hungary from March 3 to March 5, 1989. There were a total number of 373 participating athletes from 62 countries. Results Men 1985 , 1987 , ...

, coming in fourth place behind Spaniard

Cayetano Cornet Cayetano Cornet Pamies (, born August 22, 1963) is a retired 400 metres runner from Spain. He was born in Reus, Catalonia. He won the European Indoor Championships The European Indoor Championships was a men's tennis tournament played in Ber ...

. That same year he completed a Yugoslavian title double over 200 m and 400 m.Yugoslavian Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-06-28. He retained his 200 m title the following year and competed for his nation on home turf for the

1990 European Athletics Championships The 15th European Athletics Championships were held from 26 August to 2 September 1990 in Split, Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia. The host stadium was Stadion Poljud. It was the last participation of East Germany (which was already scheduled to be merged ...

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

. He ran a career best of 45.30 seconds for the 400 m to qualify for the final (a time which is the current Serbian record) and finished sixth overall. As part of the relay team he helped the Yugoslavian men reach fifth place. Another Yugoslavian relay record came for him at the

1991 World Championships in Athletics The 3rd World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan between August 23 and September 1. 1517 athletes from 167 countries partic ...

: competing in a team which also featured Dejan Jovković,

Nenad Đurović Nenad Đurović (Cyrillic: Ненад Ђуровић; born 17 January 1986) is a Montenegrin retired football defender who mostly played for Sutjeska Nikšić. Club career The first club for which he played for was FK Sutjeska Nikšić from hi ...

and Mačev, he reached the final of the competition with the country's first sub-three-minute mark for the event (2:59.95 min). The Yugoslavian team came fourth in the relay final, just over two tenths of a second behind bronze medallists Jamaica. Branković won the

at the Yugoslavian championships, but it was over the longer sprint distance that he excelled that year. He won the 400 m

at the

– an achievement which proved to be the pinnacle of his individual running career. Owing to the

dissolution of Yugoslavia After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart in the early 1990s. Unresolved issues from the breakup caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav ...

, he was one of nine athletes to compete independent of a nation at the

. He reached the quarter-finals of the 400 m at the Games of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Branković was a representative of Europe at the

1992 IAAF World Cup The 6th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on September 25–27, 1992, at the Estadio Panamericano in Havana, Cuba. Overall re ...

and came fifth overall in the 400 m. For his achievements that year, the sports daily '' Спорт'' nominated him for their "Golden Badge", recognising him as their Yugoslav sportsman of the year. He completed a 100/200 m double at the national championships in 1993 with personal best times of 10.33 seconds and 20.98 seconds, respectively (his 100 m time was the fastest ever run at the championships at that point). Later that year, he took part in the

1993 World Championships in Athletics The 4th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Neckarstadium, Stuttgart, Germany between 13 and 22 August with the participation of 187 nations. Having or ...

and ran in the heats of the 200 m. His final international performance came in the heats of the 400 m at the

1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 6th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France from March 7 to March 9, 1997. It was the first athletic championships to introduce women's pole vault. There were a total nu ...

. Following his retirement from athletic competition, he moved into the field of

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

administration and rose to the position of general secretary at the

. He led the organising committee for the

2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held between 3 and 5 March 2017 at the Kombank Arena in Belgrade, Serbia. This was the second time this event was held in the city after the 1969 European Indoor Games, 1969 edition then known a ...

held in Belgrade.Media Guide
Belgrade2017. Retrieved on 2017-03-04.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brankovic, Slobodan Living people 1967 births Athletes from Belgrade Serbian male sprinters Yugoslav male sprinters Olympic athletes for Yugoslavia Olympic athletes as Independent Olympic Participants Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Yugoslavia Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Yugoslavia Athletes (track and field) at the 1991 Mediterranean Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1997 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games silver medalists for Yugoslavia World Athletics Championships athletes as independent participants Serbian sports executives and administrators Serbia and Montenegro male athletes Yugoslavian Athletics Championships winners

Career

See also

References

External links