Croatia at the 2004 Summer Olympics explained

Noc:	CRO
Nocname:	Croatian Olympic Committee
Games:	Summer Olympics
Year:	2004
Website:
Location:	Athens
Competitors:	81
Sports:	14
Flagbearer:	Dubravko Šimenc (opening) Siniša Skelin (closing)
Rank:	44
Gold:	1
Silver:	2
Bronze:	2
Appearances:	auto
App Begin Year:	1992
See also:	(1900) (1920–1988)

Croatia competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's fourth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics since the post-Yugoslav era. The Croatian Olympic Committee (Croatian: Hrvatski olimpijski odbor, HOO) sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since its debut in 1992. A total of 81 athletes, 66 men and 15 women, competed in 14 sports. Men's water polo, and men's handball were the only team-based sports in which Croatia had its representation in these Olympic Games.

The Croatian team featured three Olympic medalists from Sydney: rowers and brothers Nikša and Siniša Skelin, and four-time Olympian and defending weightlifting champion Nikolaj Pešalov in the men's lightweight class. Table tennis player and Olympic silver medalist Zoran Primorac became the first Croatian to participate in five Olympic Games as an individual athlete (his first appearance competed under the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). Former Bosnian athlete and discus thrower Dragan Mustapić served as the team captain and oldest member of the team at age 41, while backstroke swimmer Sanja Jovanović was youngest at age 17. Three-time Olympic water polo player and two-time medalist Dubravko Šimenc was appointed by the committee to become the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony.^[1]

Croatia left Athens with a total of five medals (one gold, two silver, and two bronze), being considered as the nation's most successful Olympics in history based on the overall medal tally. All of these medals were awarded for the first time to the Croatian athletes in swimming, men's coxless pair in rowing, and men's tennis doubles. Meanwhile, Croatia men's handball team (led by team captain Venio Losert) proved particularly successful in Athens, as they beat the Germans for their only gold medal at these Games, adding it to their previous record from the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.^[2]

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date

Athletics

See main article: Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Croatian athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard).^{[3] [4]}

Men

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Jurica Grabušić	110 m hurdles	13.87	8	Did not advance
Branko Zorko	1500 m	3:48.28	10	Did not advance

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Siniša Ergotić	Long jump	7.77	26	Did not advance
Edis Elkasević	Shot put	18.44	36	Did not advance
András Haklits	Hammer throw	74.43	21	Did not advance
Nedžad Mulabegović	Shot put	19.07	29	Did not advance
Dragan Mustapić	Discus throw	54.66	34	Did not advance
Edi Ponoš	Javelin throw	71.43	33	Did not advance

Women

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Vera Begić	Discus throw	57.31	29	Did not advance
Ivana Brkljačić	align=left rowspan=2	Hammer throw	68.21	13	Did not advance
Sanja Gavrilović	56.79	45	Did not advance
Blanka Vlašić	High jump	1.95	7 Q	1.89	11

Boxing

See main article: Boxing at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Croatia sent two boxers to the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Marijo Šivolija	Light heavyweight	L 23–31	Did not advance
Vedran Đipalo	Heavyweight		L 22–32	Did not advance

Canoeing

See main article: Canoeing at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Slalom

Athlete	Event	Preliminary						Semifinal		Final
		Run 1	Rank	Run 2	Rank	Total	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Total	Rank
Danko Herceg	Men's C-1	103.84	7	100.33	3	204.17	6 Q	203.49	12	Did not advance
Dinko Mulić	Men's K-1	102.71	20	108.05	24	210.76	22	Did not advance

Sprint

Athlete	Event	Heats		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
align=left rowspan=2	Emanuel Horvatiček	Men's C-1 500 m	1:55.528	5 q	2:06.347	8	Did not advance
Men's C-1 1000 m	4:27.662	7 q	4:24.604	7	Did not advance

Qualification Legend: Q = Qualify to final; q = Qualify to semifinal

Equestrian

See main article: Equestrian at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Eventing

Handball

See main article: Handball at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Summary

Men's tournament

See main article: Handball at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament.

Roster

Group play

Quarterfinal

Semifinal

Gold Medal Final

Won Gold Medal

Rowing

See main article: Rowing at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Croatian rowers qualified the following boats:

Men

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Nikša Skelin Siniša Skelin	Pair	7:01.28	2 SA/B	6:23.57	2 FA	6:32.64
Igor Boraska Marko Dragičević Petar Milin Damir Vučičić	Four	6:34.05	4 R	5:58.48	3 SA/B	6:05.54	6 FB	5:57.36	12

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; R=Repechage

Sailing

See main article: Sailing at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Croatian sailors have qualified one boat for each of the following events.

Men

Athlete	Event	Race											Net points	Final rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	M*
Karlo Kuret	Finn	6	2	10	8	12	18	7	5	3	3	5	61	4
Tomislav Bašić Petar Cupać	470	16	10	19	5	20	26	21	25	1	7	12	136	19

Open

M = Medal race; OCS = On course side of the starting line; DSQ = Disqualified; DNF = Did not finish; DNS= Did not start; RDG = Redress given

Shooting

See main article: Shooting at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Women

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank
align=left rowspan=2	Mirela Skoko-Ćelić	10 m air pistol	381	15	Did not advance
25 m pistol	569	=27	Did not advance

Swimming

See main article: Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Croatian swimmers earned qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the A-standard time, and 1 at the B-standard time):

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
align=left rowspan=2	Nenad Buljan	400 m freestyle	4:02.76	37	Did not advance
1500 m freestyle	15:56.54	29	Did not advance
Krešimir Čač	200 m individual medley	2:05.33	34	Did not advance
Mario Delač	200 m freestyle	1:55.82	54	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=3	Duje Draganja	50 m freestyle	22.28	5 Q	22.19	8 Q	21.94 NR
100 m freestyle	49.07	4 Q	49.14	6 Q	49.23	6
100 m butterfly	52.56	6 Q	52.74	8 Q	52.46	7
Saša Imprić	400 m individual medley	4:32.02	32	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Gordan Kožulj	100 m backstroke	55.80	16 Q	56.02	14	Did not advance
200 m backstroke	2:00.94	12 Q	1:59.61	9	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Vanja Rogulj	100 m breaststroke	1:03.16	26	Did not advance
200 m breaststroke	2:18.81	37	Did not advance
Igor Čerenšek Mario Delač Duje Draganja Ivan Mladina	4 × 100 m freestyle relay	3:21.01	13	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
align=left rowspan=2	Petra Banović	200 m freestyle	2:04.24	32	Did not advance
200 m individual medley	2:20.83	25	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Anita Galić	400 m freestyle	4:26.09	37	Did not advance
800 m freestyle	9:10.91	28	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Sanja Jovanović	100 m backstroke	1:02.47	=17	Did not advance
200 m backstroke	2:15.01	16 Q	2:13.76	13	Did not advance
align=left rowspan=2	Smiljana Marinović	100 m breaststroke	1:11.00	20	Did not advance
200 m breaststroke	2:32.52	17	Did not advance

Table tennis

See main article: Table tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Three Croatian table tennis players qualified for the following events.

Men

Athlete	Event	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final /
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Zoran Primorac	Men's singles		W 4–1	L 1–4	Did not advance
Tamara Boroš	align=left rowspan=2	Women's singles	W 4–0	W 4–2	L 0–4	Did not advance
Cornelia Vaida	L 0–4	Did not advance
Tamara Boroš Cornelia Vaida	Women's doubles	W 4–1	W 4–1	L 0–4	Did not advance

Taekwondo

See main article: Taekwondo at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Two Croatian taekwondo jin qualified for the following events.

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Final /
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Sandra Šarić	Women's −67 kg	L 2–5	Did not advance
Nataša Vezmar	Women's +67 kg		L 4–5	Did not advance

Tennis

See main article: Tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Croatia nominated three male and two female tennis players in the tournament.

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final /
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Mario Ančić	align=left rowspan=3	Men's singles	L 1–6, 5–7	Did not advance
Ivo Karlović	W 6–4, 6–7^(10–12), 6–2	W 7–6^(7–4), 4–6, 6–4	L 6–4, 6–7^(3–7), 4–6	Did not advance
Ivan Ljubičić	W 6–3, 6–2	W 7–6^(7–3), 6–4	L 4–6, 4–6	Did not advance
Mario Ančić Ivan Ljubičić	Men's doubles		W	W 7–6^(8–6), 6–7^(2–7), 7–5	W 4–6, 6–3, 9–7	L 5–7, 6–4, 4–6	W 7–6^(7–5), 4–6, 16–14
Jelena Kostanić	align=left rowspan=2	Women's singles	L 5–7, 1–6	Did not advance
Karolina Šprem	W 6–4, 7–6^(8–6), 7–5	W 6–3, 6–1	L 6–7^(6–8), 1–6	Did not advance
Jelena Kostanić Karolina Šprem	Women's doubles		W 6–3, 6–2	L 3–6, 5–7	Did not advance

Water polo

See main article: Water polo at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Men's tournament

See main article: Water polo at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament.

Roster

Group play--------------------

7th-12th Classification Quarterfinal----

7th-10th Classification Semifinal----

9th-10th Place Classification

Weightlifting

See main article: Weightlifting at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

See also

• Croatia at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
• Croatia at the 2005 Mediterranean Games

External links

• Official Report of the XXVIII Olympiad
• Croatian Olympic Committee

Notes and References

1. News: Dubravko Šimenc stjegonoša hrvatske zastave u Ateni. Dubravko Šimenc is the flag bearer for Croatia in Athens. hr. Croatian Olympic Committee. 3 August 2004. 22 April 2014.
2. News: Croatia break through for handball gold. ABC News Australia. 30 August 2004. 20 April 2014.
3. Web site: iaaf.org – Top Lists. IAAF. June 4, 2011.
4. Web site: IAAF Games of the XXX Olympiad – Athens 2004 Entry Standards. IAAF. 4 June 2011.