On the occasion of the Croatian Olympic Day, on September 10, President Zlatko Mateša and Secretary General Josip Čop congratulated all athletes, sportsmen and officials on the anniversary of the Croatian Olympic Committee (1991) foundation, which was the introduction to the great successes of Croatian sport.

The NOC leaders thanked everyone who has contributed to the outstanding results in sport development and the strengthening of its influence in society.

On Monday 11, the annual “Dražen Petrović” Awards were presented to the most successful young Croatian athletes, teams and crews, in the presence of Secretary of State for Sports Janica Kostelić, NOC leaders and former top sports athletes, sports officials and officials The event took place at the Museum-Memorial Center “Dražen Petrović” in Zagreb.

Finally on 12 September, the Croatian NOC also celebrated the 25^th anniversary of the first Croatian participation at the Summer Olympic Games Barcelona 1992.

President Zlatko Mateša’s invitation was addressed to the members of the first Croatian Olympic delegation in Barcelona 1992, including 41 athletes, seven trainers and 14 team leaders under the leadership of then Chef de Mission, Marijan Malović.

Barcelona was the key recognition by the IOC in January of that year, but also the opportunity to complete the’ choice of the best athletes and achieve the best results.

The first Croatian athletes who won an Olympic medal were the tennis duo Goran Ivanišević and Goran Prpić who won bronze, after which Ivanišević won bronze in the individual competition. His medal is the first individual Olympic medal for independent Croatia.

Two bronze tennis players and Croatian basketball players in the final competition with the US team were an introduction to the great Croatian sports Olympics’ success until  today with 44 Olympic medals, of which 33 are from the summer and 11 from the Winter Olympics.