Zoran Prerad ( sr-cyrl, Зоран Прерад; born August 15, 1971 in

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

) is a

Bosnian Serb The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

practitioner, who competed in the men's heavyweight category. He claimed a bronze medal in the 83-kg division at the

1995 World Taekwondo Championships The 1995 World Taekwondo Championships were the 12th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships, and were held in Manila, Philippines from November 17 to November 21, 1995, with 598 athletes participating from 77 countries. Medal summary Men ...

Manila, Philippines Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

, retrieved the men's heavyweight title at the 1998 European Championships in

Eindhoven, Netherlands Eindhoven () is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 ...

, and became the first and only Bosnian taekwondo jin to mark his 2004 Olympic debut in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Prerad qualified as a lone 31-year-old taekwondo fighter for the Bosnian squad in the men's heavyweight class (+80 kg) at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, by receiving a tripartite invitation from the

International Taekwondo Federation International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) is an international taekwondo organization founded on March 22, 1966, by General Choi Hong Hi (Korean: 최홍희) in Seoul, South Korea. The ITF was founded to promote and encourage the growth of the Kor ...

. Having a lack of international experience to the sport, Prerad fell short on a clear 13–2 gap to Spanish practitioner Jon García in his opening match. With Garcia losing the quarterfinals to South Korea's Moon Dae-sung, Prerad denied his chance to compete for Bosnia and Herzegovina's possible Olympic medal in the repechage.

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* * 1971 births Living people Bosnia and Herzegovina male taekwondo practitioners Serbian male taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners of Bosnia and Herzegovina Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Banja Luka Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina European Taekwondo Championships medalists World Taekwondo Championships medalists {{Taekwondo-bio-stub