Ivan Ivančić

Ivan Ivančić (6 December 1937 – 28 August 2014) was a Croatian athletics coach and shot putter who represented Yugoslavia. He was the gold medalist in the 1975 Mediterranean Games, as well as a multiple national champion and record holder. As a coach, Ivančić specialized in the throwing events, and was best known for coaching Sandra Perković, an Olympic and two-time World discus throw champion.

Ivan Ivančić
Personal information
Born(1937-12-06)6 December 1937
Grabovica, Kingdom of Yugoslavia[1]
Died28 August 2014(2014-08-28) (aged 76)
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[2]
Weight282 lb (128 kg)[2]
Sport
Country Yugoslavia
Event(s)Shot put
ClubAK Sloboda Tuzla
AK Crvena Zvezda
AK Partizan[1]
Retired1987
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)20.77 m (1983)[2]
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Yugoslavia
European Athletics Indoor Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1980 SindelfingenShot put
Bronze medal – third place 1983 BudapestShot put
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place1975 AlgiersShot put
Bronze medal – third place1979 SplitShot put

Biography

Ivančić was born in 1937[1][2] in the village of Grabovica, Tomislavgrad in present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. He finished elementary school and high school in Tuzla, and graduated from the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education at the University of Belgrade.[1]

Ivančić described his entry into athletics as "coincidental": while employed at the Ministry of Transportation in Belgrade, he occasionally competed in shot put at workers' sports games, and good results prompted him to take up athletics more seriously. He joined the AK Crvena Zvezda athletics club, where he spent a total of 24 years, interrupted by a four-year spell with AK Partizan, a rival Belgrade club. He worked as a school teacher for 35 years.[3]

Ivančić became the top Yugoslav shot putter in the early to mid-1970s. He won the Yugoslav championship seven times (1970–1975, 1977) and improved the national record six times.[4][5] He won a gold medal in shot put in the 1975 Mediterranean Games, bronze in 1979, and two bronze medals in the 1980 European Athletics Indoor Championships and the 1983 European Athletics Indoor Championships.[5][6] In addition, he represented Yugoslavia in the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympic Games and in the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, placing 19th, 16th and 12th respectively. His appearance in the shot put final in Helsinki, at the age of 45 years 244 days, makes Ivančić the oldest ever World Championships competitor in shot put, as well as the oldest ever World Championships finalist in any event.[7]

On 31 August 1983 in Koblenz, less than a month after the Helsinki final, Ivančić set his personal best of 20.77 m.[2][8][9] As of 2012, this is the world masters record in the M45 category (men 45–49 years of age); no other athlete in this age category has managed to come within two and a half meters of this mark.[8][9] His 1980 mark of 20.44 m was also a world masters record in the M40 category until it was surpassed in 1985.[9]

Ivančić retired from professional competition in 1987, at the age of 50.[10] For some time, he was active in veterans' competitions, but has given them up because he "could not accept the fact that the shot would not go over 20 meters, like it had before".[3] He died in 2014 at the age of 76.[11]

Coaching career

Ivančić entered into coaching in the 1970s, while still actively competing, working with Vladimir Milić and Jovan Lazarević, gold medalists in shot put for Yugoslavia at the Mediterranean Games in 1979 and 1983, respectively.[3] After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Ivančić coached Croatian athletes such as Edis Elkasević, world junior champion and world junior record holder in shot put, and gold medalist at the Mediterranean Games;[12] Marin Premeru, world youth record holder in shot put;[13] Ivana Brkljačić, double world junior champion in hammer throw;[14] and Darko Kralj, Paralympic champion, world champion and world record holder in shot put.[15]

Ivančić coached Sandra Perković, the Croatian discus thrower, whom he recognized as a talent in discus throw.[16] In her first year with Ivančić, she improved her personal best from 32 to over 50 meters.[17] After winning gold at the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships, Perković became the youngest ever European champion in discus throw at the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona,[18] and successfully defended her title two years later in Helsinki.[19]

References
  2. "Ivan Ivančić Biography and Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2011-03-09. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
  3. Poljak, Tomislav (August 8, 2010). "Ivan Ivančić: Optužuju me za doping, a jedini sam živ iz svoje generacije". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  4. "Yugoslavian Championships". gbrathletics.com. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
  5. "Atletičari". atletskisavezbeograda.com (in Serbian). Atletski savez Beograda. Archived from the original on 2010-10-12. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  6. "European Indoor Championships (Men)". gbrathletics.com. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
  7. "IAAF Statistics Handbook Berlin 2009" (PDF). International Association of Athletics Federations. July 3, 2009. p. 33. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2011. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  8. "Records Outdoor Men". world-masters-athletics.org. World Masters Athletics. Archived from the original on 2011-09-03. Retrieved 2012-07-16.
  9. "Shot Put ALL-TIME Record - Masters Athletics". mastersathletics.net. Archived from the original on 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2012-07-16.
  10. Sinovčić, Dean (14 June 2011). "Dinaridi su najbolji bacači na svijetu" [Dinaric people are the best throwing athletes in the world]. Nacional (in Croatian) (813). Archived from the original on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  11. "Preminuo Ivan Ivančić, trener koji je stvorio Sandru Perković".
  12. "Bacači AK Dinamo – Zrinjevac". ak-dinamo.hr (in Croatian). AK Dinamo-Zrinjevac. February 8, 2009. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
  13. "Svjetski rekord Marina Premerua u bacanju kugle". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). October 13, 2007. Archived from the original on March 2, 2011. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
  14. Brkljačić, Ivana. "Ivan Ivančić me ponekad znao tjerati da odem na plac prodavati krumpire". ivana-brkljacic.com (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 2009-04-17. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
  15. Bibić Mosor, Milorad (January 3, 2010). "Olimpijski pobjednik i svjetski prvak Darko Kralj: I dalje želim obarati rekorde". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). Retrieved 2010-08-16.
  16. Mikolčević, Sanja (May 18, 2010). "'Dobro da nemam dečka, nemam vremena i za vezu'". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  17. Hebar, Srđan; Mrvec, Damir (July 29, 2010). "Sandra je već dva puta bila na rubu smrti, a danas živi san". Večernji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  18. Ramsak, Bob (July 28, 2009). "Lemaitre, Abeylegesse and Perkovic steal centre stage in Barcelona - European champs, day 2". iaaf.org. International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  19. Butcher, Michael (July 2, 2012). "5.97m world lead by Lavillenie brings down the curtain in Helsinki - European champs, Day five". iaaf.org. International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 2012-07-02.
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