The Croatian Olympic Committee (COC) celebrated the 2018 sports achievements of the Croatian team at the traditional ceremony of the Great Day of Croatian Sport on 19 December 2018 in the Westin hotel in Zagreb. COC President Zlatko Mateša and Secretary General Josip Čop acknowledged the most successful athletes and sports personalities at the event.
In 2018, Croatian male and female athletes participated in approximately 700 world and European competitions and won a total of 292 medals – 97 gold, 85 silver and 110 bronze.
The Best Female Athlete prize was presented to Olympic discus thrower Sandra Perković. By claiming the title for the seventh time, Perković has become the most decorated athlete in the award’s history by surpassing legendary former alpine ski racer Janica Kostelić.
The Croatian NOC Council named Real Madrid footballer and captain of Croatia’s national football team Luka Modrić as Athlete of the Year. Modrić is the first footballer in history to win all four prestigious sports awards (the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball, the Best FIFA Men’s Player, UEFA’s Men’s Player of The Year and the Ballon d’Or) in a single season.
Winning the Men’s Team of the Year Award was the Croatian national football team, which was proclaimed the biggest sports promoter of Croatia worldwide for their outstanding achievement at the FIFA World Cup final in Russia.
The football players might have been the stars of the night, but their coach wasn’t exactly left empty-handed. Up against stiff competition, Croatian national team manager Zlatko Dalić nevertheless claimed Coach of the Year honours.
The Special Recognition Award for promotion of sports was given to the Croatian national tennis team (Marin Čilić, Borna Ćorić, Ivan Dodig, Mate Pavić and Franko Škugor), the winner of the last edition of the Davis Cup in its current format.
The Croatian national karate team consisting of Marina Barac, Ana Marija Bujas Čelan, Alessandra Hasani and Ana Lenard, was named Women’s Team of the Year. At the European Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia the team won a bronze medal.
The two rowing brothers Martin and Valent Sinković were re-selected for the Crew of the Year based on their unstoppable duo dynamic. In 2018, the two brothers became European and World champions in their new discipline coxless pairs. It is worth mentioning that another set of sailing brothers, Šime and Mihovil Fantela from Zadar, also had a highly successful season, securing their win even before their final sail. The two claimed gold in the 49er class at the World Championship in Aarhus, Denmark after only sailing in the discipline for a year. This could be the beginning of a fraternal rivalry for this award in the future!
The Fair Play Award was presented to the BMX Freestyle rider Marin Ranteš for giving a wheel from his bike to a rival after he blew a tire during the World Cup in Edmonton, Canada. In addition to winning silver at the World Cup and the Fair Play trophy, Ranteš also received a rousing applause from the audience in the Crystal Hall of the Westin hotel during the ceremony.
This year’s Matija Ljubek Award, presented by the Croatian NOC for Lifetime Achievement, went to Vjekoslav Šafranić (martial arts) and Branko Omazić (Paralympic sports) from Zagreb and Danko Jerković (water polo) and Ante Tanfara (karate and basketball) from Šibenik. The handball club Rudar from Rude near Samobor is the only sport collective to have received this award.
This year’s winner of the IOC Trophy “Olympism in Action” was the Vice President of the Croatian NOC and member of its Council Morana Paliković Gruden, who was recognised for her perseverance and consistency in the fight for gender equality and improving the status of women in sports.
