Dragan Zdravković

Dragan Zdravković (born 16 December 1959, in Senjski Rudnik) is a Serbian former middle-distance runner. He represented Yugoslavia in international competition from the late 1970s to 1980s, and was a finalist at the 1980 Summer Olympics.[2] Zdravković holds multiple outdoor and indoor Serbian records in athletics.

Dragan Zdravković
Personal information
NationalityYugoslav
Serbian
Born (1959-12-16) 16 December 1959
Senjski Rudnik, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Sport
SportTrack
Event(s)1500 meters, mile
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)800m: 1:48.34[1]
1500m: 3:34.85[1]
Mile: 3:52.24[1]
3000m: 7:40.49[1]
5000m: 13:35.83[1]
Medal record
Representing  Yugoslavia
Men's athletics
European Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place1983 Budapest3000m
Mediterranean Games
Silver medal – second place1979 Split1500m
Universiade
Bronze medal – third place 1985 Kobe 1500 m

Running career

Zdravković initially practiced football as a youngster in Ćuprija, until a school teacher, Aleksandar "Aca" Petrović, suggested that he begin training athletics.[3] Zdravković's youth coaches emphasized gymnastics as a complement to his running workouts.[3] At the age of 21 he made his Olympic debut at the 1980 Summer Olympics. In the men's 1500 meters, he progressed through the qualifying heat and semi-final rounds, but finished last in the finals. In spite of this, he was particularly happy to race with Steve Ovett:

"Yes, Steve Ovett was more sympathetic to me than Sebastian Coe. Ovett was from a working family, but Coe was a Lord. In the Olympics final in Moscow they restricted warm ups on the training field, on the track only two strides were allowed before the race. I did my first stride and turned around. Ovett ran towards me, stopped next to me and offered his hand. I didn't want to wash it for four days from how happy I was. He was different, more natural." -Zdravković[4]

On 6 March 1983 Zdravković won the men's men's 3000 meters at the European Indoor Championships. On 15 July 1983 he won the men's 1500 meters in 3:35.28 (min:sec) at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in an upset over Sebastian Coe.[5]

"I didn't have anything to lose, even if I was second it would have been a great result. Even today I joke about that race and say 'even the blind chicken gets some grain'. To be honest, if we ran three days later, he would have beat me." -Zdravković[4]

He had qualified for the 1984 Summer Olympics, but the Athletics Federation of Yugoslavia had a sportswear contract with Adidas, and after not changing his sportswear to Adidas, Zdravković was taken off the Yugoslavian 1984 Olympic team.[3]

International competitions
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
1979 Mediterranean Games Split, Yugoslavia 2nd 1500 m 3:41.22
1980 Olympic Games Moscow, Soviet Union 9th 1500 m
1982 European Championships Athens, Greece 9th 1500 m 3:42.44
1983 European Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 1st 3000 m
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 8th 1500 m
1985 Universiade Kobe, Japan 3rd 1500 m 3:46.78

See also

References
  1. World Athletics. "Dragan ZDRAVKOVIĆ - Profile".
  2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Dragan Zdravković". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07.
  3. ASS (Atletski Savez Srbije) (3 February 2011). "KRALJ SREDNJIH PRUGA DRAGAN ZDRAVKOVIĆ" (in Serbian).
  4. "Čovek koji je utišao "Kristal palas"" (in Serbian). January 8, 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  5. "UPI: Dragan Zdravkovic of Yugoslavia upset world record-holder Sebastian Coe...". July 15, 1983. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
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