Croatia at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Croatia at the 2004 Summer Olympics
IOC code	CRO
NOC	Croatian Olympic Committee
Website	www.hoo.hr (Croatian) (English)
in Athens
Competitors	81 in 14 sports
Flag bearer	Dubravko Šimenc (opening)[1] Siniša Skelin (closing)
Medals Ranked 44th	Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 2 2 5
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Other related appearances
Austria (1900) Yugoslavia (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
Gold	men's national handball team, CroatiaCroatia men's national handball team Ivano Balić   Valter Matošević Davor Dominiković   Petar Metličić Mirza Džomba   Vlado Šola Slavko Goluža   Denis Špoljarić Nikša Kaleb   Goran Šprem Blaženko Lacković   Igor Vori Venio Losert   Drago Vuković	Handball	Men's tournament	August 29
Silver	Draganja, DujeDuje Draganja	Swimming	Men's 50 m freestyle	August 20
Silver	Skelin, NikšaNikša Skelin Skelin, SinišaSiniša Skelin	Rowing	Men's pair	August 21
Bronze	Pešalov, NikolajNikolaj Pešalov	Weightlifting	Men's 69 kg	August 18
Bronze	Ančić, MarioMario Ančić Ljubičić, IvanIvan Ljubičić	Tennis	Men's doubles	August 21

Athletics

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]

Key

• Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
• Q = Qualified for the next round
• q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
• NR = National record
• N/A = Round not applicable for the event
• Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

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	N/A		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	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

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	Muñoz (VEN) L 23–31	Did not advance
Vedran Đipalo	Heavyweight	N/A	Forsyth (AUS) L 22–32	Did not advance

Canoeing

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
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

Eventing

Athlete	Horse	Event	Dressage		Cross-country			Jumping						Total
								Qualifier			Final
			Penalties	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Rank
Pepo Puch	Banville d'Ivoy	Individual	68.60	65	80.60	149.20	66	9.00	158.20	63	Did not advance			158.20	63

Handball

Men's tournament

Roster

The following is the Croatia roster in the men's handball tournament of the 2004 Summer Olympics.^[5]

Head coaches: Lino Červar

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club 1 GK Losert, VenioVenio Losert 25 July 1976 (aged 28) 1.91 m Granollers 2 LW Kaleb, NikšaNikša Kaleb 9 March 1973 (aged 31) 1.84 m HC Zagreb 4 CB Balić, IvanoIvano Balić 1 April 1979 (aged 25) 1.89 m Portland San Antonio 6 LB Lacković, BlaženkoBlaženko Lacković 25 December 1980 (aged 23) 1.95 m SG Flensburg 7 RW Zrnić, VedranVedran Zrnić 26 September 1979 (aged 24) 1.88 m HC Gorenje Velenje 9 P Vori, IgorIgor Vori 20 September 1980 (aged 23) 2.02 m HC Zagreb 10 LB Dominiković, DavorDavor Dominiković 7 April 1978 (aged 26) 2.03 m Kornau Ostringen 11 RW Džomba, MirzaMirza Džomba 28 February 1977 (aged 27) 1.90 m BM Ciudad Real 12 GK Šola, VladoVlado Šola 17 November 1968 (aged 35) 1.94 m HC Fotex Veszprem 14 RB Vuković, DragoDrago Vuković 3 August 1983 (aged 21) 1.94 m HC Zagreb 15 CB Goluža, SlavkoSlavko Goluža 17 September 1971 (aged 32) 1.95 m HC Fotex Veszprem 16 GK Matošević, ValterValter Matošević 11 June 1970 (aged 34) 1.93 m Wilhelmshavener HV 17 LW Šprem, GoranGoran Šprem 6 July 1979 (aged 25) 1.83 m HC Zagreb 18 CB Špoljarić, DenisDenis Špoljarić 20 August 1979 (aged 24) 1.94 m HC Zagreb 19 RB Metličić, PetarPetar Metličić 25 December 1976 (aged 27) 1.94 m HC Ademar Leon

Group play

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
Croatia	5	5	0	0	146	129	+17	10
Spain	5	4	0	1	154	137	+17	8
South Korea	5	2	0	3	148	148	0	4
Russia	5	2	0	3	145	145	0	4
Iceland	5	1	0	4	143	158	–15	2
Slovenia	5	1	0	4	130	149	–19	2

Qualified for the quarterfinals

14 August 2004 19:30	Croatia	34 - 30	Iceland	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Metličić 8	(16-12)	Stefansson 8
	9× 3×		7× 3× 1×

16 August 2004 11:30	Slovenia	26 - 27	Croatia	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Oie, Togstad (NOR)
	Brumen 10	(10-13)	Vori 8
	7× 3× 2×		7× 3× 1×

18 August 2004 09:30	Croatia	29 - 26	South Korea	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
	Džomba 9	(12-10)	Yoon 8
	6× 3×		3× 3×

20 August 2004 19:30	Russia	25 - 26	Croatia	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Hansson, Olsson (SWE)
	Torgovanov, Rastvortsev 6	(14-10)	Lacković 9
	5× 2×		3× 3×

22 August 2004 11:30	Croatia	30 - 22	Spain	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Baum, Goralczyk (POL)
	Džomba 7	(15-9)	García 5
	1× 3×		4× 3×

Quarterfinal

24 August 2004 16:30	Croatia	33 - 27	Greece	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Džomba 11	(19-11)	Balomenos, Alvanos 6
	3×		2× 4×

Semifinal

27 August 2004 14:30	Croatia	33 - 31	Hungary	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Arnaldsson, Vidarsson (ISL)
	Balić 9	(18-16)	Pérez 8
	3× 3×		2× 3×

Gold Medal Final

29 August 2004 16:45	Croatia	26 - 24	Germany	Sports Pavilion, Athens Referees: Hansson, Olsson (SWE)
	Džomba 9	(11-12)	Kretzschmar 9
	2× 3×		5× 3×

Won Gold Medal

Rowing

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	Bye		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

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

Athlete	Event	Race											Net points	Final rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	M*
Mate Arapov	Laser	6	11	2	22	OCS	13	3	25	29	25	3	139	14

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

Women

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

Swimming

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
Nenad Buljan	400 m freestyle	4:02.76	37	N/A		Did not advance
	1500 m freestyle	15:56.54	29	N/A		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
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	N/A		Did not advance
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
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	N/A		Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Petra Banović	200 m freestyle	2:04.24	32	Did not advance
	200 m individual medley	2:20.83	25	Did not advance
Anita Galić	400 m freestyle	4:26.09	37	N/A		Did not advance
	800 m freestyle	9:10.91	28	N/A		Did not advance
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
Smiljana Marinović	100 m breaststroke	1:11.00	20	Did not advance
	200 m breaststroke	2:32.52	17	Did not advance

Table tennis

Three Croatian table tennis players qualified for the following events.

Men

Athlete	Event	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Zoran Primorac	Men's singles	Bye	Miličević (BIH) W 4–1	Ma L (CHN) L 1–4	Did not advance
Tamara Boroš	Women's singles	Bye		Kravchenko (ISR) W 4–0	Pavlovich (BLR) W 4–2	Zhang Yn (CHN) L 0–4	Did not advance
Cornelia Vaida		Lay (AUS) L 0–4	Did not advance
Tamara Boroš Cornelia Vaida	Women's doubles	Bye		Štrbíková / Vachovcová (CZE) W 4–1	Bátorfi / Tóth (HUN) W 4–1	Kim B-R / Kim K-A (KOR) L 0–4	Did not advance

Taekwondo

Two Croatian taekwondo jin qualified for the following events.

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Sandra Šarić	Women's −67 kg	Solheim (NOR) L 2–5	Did not advance
Nataša Vezmar	Women's +67 kg	Bye	Dawani (JOR) L 4–5	Did not advance

Tennis

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 / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Mario Ančić	Men's singles	Haas (GER) L 1–6, 5–7	Did not advance
Ivo Karlović		Pavel (ROM) W 6–4, 6–7^(10–12), 6–2	Clément (FRA) W 7–6^(7–4), 4–6, 6–4	Moyá (ESP) L 6–4, 6–7^(3–7), 4–6	Did not advance
Ivan Ljubičić		Sargsian (ARM) W 6–3, 6–2	Johansson (SWE) W 7–6^(7–3), 6–4	Dent (USA) L 4–6, 4–6	Did not advance
Mario Ančić Ivan Ljubičić	Men's doubles	N/A	Björkman / Johansson (SWE) W RET	Damm / Suk (CZE) W 7–6^(8–6), 6–7^(2–7), 7–5	Llodra / Santoro (FRA) W 4–6, 6–3, 9–7	González / Massú (CHI) L 5–7, 6–4, 4–6	Bhupathi / Paes (IND) W 7–6^(7–5), 4–6, 16–14
Jelena Kostanić	Women's singles	Brandi (PUR) L 5–7, 1–6	Did not advance
Karolina Šprem		Dulko (ARG) W 6–4, 7–6^(8–6), 7–5	Widjaja (INA) W 6–3, 6–1	Sugiyama (JPN) L 6–7^(6–8), 1–6	Did not advance
Jelena Kostanić Karolina Šprem	Women's doubles	N/A	Prakusya / Widjaja (INA) W 6–3, 6–2	Asagoe / Sugiyama (JPN) L 3–6, 5–7	Did not advance

Water polo

Men's tournament

Roster

The following is the Croatian roster in the men's water polo tournament of the 2004 Summer Olympics.^[6]

Head coach: Zoran Roje

№	Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Date of birth	2004 club
1	Vićan, FranoFrano Vićan	GK	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	92 kg (203 lb)	24 January 1976	Sportiva Nervi
2	Burić, DamirDamir Burić	CB	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)	112 kg (247 lb)	2 December 1980	VK Primorje
3	Vranješ, TihomilTihomil Vranješ	D	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)	87 kg (192 lb)	10 November 1977	VK Jug Dubrovnik
4	Šimenc, DubravkoDubravko Šimenc	CB	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	115 kg (254 lb)	2 November 1966	Bissolati Cremona
5	Volarević, GoranGoran Volarević	GK	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	2 April 1977	VK Jug Dubrovnik
6	Štritof, RatkoRatko Štritof (C)	CB	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	102 kg (225 lb)	14 January 1972	Circolo Nautico Posillipo
7	Smodlaka, MileMile Smodlaka	CF	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	115 kg (254 lb)	1 January 1976	VK Jug Dubrovnik
8	Premuš, DanijelDanijel Premuš	CF	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	98 kg (216 lb)	15 April 1981	VK Primorje
9	Franković, NikolaNikola Franković	D	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	98 kg (216 lb)	9 November 1982	VK Primorje
10	Barač, SamirSamir Barač	D	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	2 November 1973	Leonessa Brescia
11	Hinić, IgorIgor Hinić	CF	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	110 kg (240 lb)	4 December 1975	Leonessa Brescia
12	Fatović, ElvisElvis Fatović	D	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	87 kg (192 lb)	8 May 1971	VK Jug Dubrovnik
13	Kobešćak, VjekoslavVjekoslav Kobešćak	D	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	20 January 1974	HAVK Mladost

Group play

	Qualified for the semifinals
	Qualified for the quarterfinals

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Hungary	5	5	0	0	44	27	+17	10
Serbia and Montenegro	5	4	0	1	37	26	+11	8
Russia	5	3	0	2	32	28	+4	6
United States	5	2	0	3	32	37	-5	4
Croatia	5	1	0	4	35	41	-6	2
Kazakhstan	5	0	0	5	21	42	-21	0

August 15, 2004 22:15		Croatia	6–7	United States	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Tulga (TUR), Bookelman (NED)
		Score by quarters: 0-0, 0-3, 2-1, 4-3
		Štritof 3	Goals	Azevedo 3

---

August 17, 2004 22:15		Hungary	10–8	Croatia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Borrell (ESP), Bookelman (NED)
		Score by quarters: 1-0, 4-2, 4-4, 1-2
		Kásás, Biros 3	Goals	Burić, Štritof 2

---

August 19, 2004 22:15		Croatia	8–9	Russia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Stavropoulos (GRE), Kratochvil (SVK)
		Score by quarters: 2-2, 2-3, 1-1, 3-3
		Franković, Fatović 2	Goals	Zinnourov 2

---

August 21, 2004 21:00		Serbia and Montenegro	11–8	Croatia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Petronilli (ITA), Bookelman (NED)
		Score by quarters: 2-1, 4-2, 3-3, 2-2
		Šapić 5	Goals	3 players with 2

---

August 23, 2004 10:45		Croatia	5–4	Kazakhstan	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Matache (ROU), Rezek (CZE)
		Score by quarters: 2-2, 2-0, 0-0, 1-2
		Smodlaka 2	Goals	4 players with 1

---

7th-12th Classification Quarterfinal

August 25, 2004 10:45		Croatia	12–1	Egypt	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Zhong (CHN), Pinker (RSA)
		Score by quarters: 4-0, 2-0, 4-0, 2-1
		Burić 3	Goals	Rezk 1

---

7th-10th Classification Semifinal

August 27, 2004 17:00		Italy	11–7	Croatia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Afanasiev (RUS), Koryzna (POL)
		Score by quarters: 2-1, 3-4, 1-1, 5-1
		Bencivenga 3	Goals	Franković 3

---

9th-10th Place Classification

Aug 29, 2004 09:30		Australia	8–7	Croatia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Kiszelly (HUN), Sayed Mahmoud (EGY)
		Score by quarters: 2-0, 3-4, 1-1, 2-2
		Whalan 5	Goals	Franković 3

Weightlifting

Athlete	Event	Snatch		Clean & Jerk		Total	Rank
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Nikolaj Pešalov	Men's −69 kg	150	3	187.5	=2	337.5

See also

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

References

1. "Dubravko Šimenc stjegonoša hrvatske zastave u Ateni" [Dubravko Šimenc is the flag bearer for Croatia in Athens] (in Croatian). Croatian Olympic Committee. 3 August 2004. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
2. "Croatia break through for handball gold". ABC News Australia. 30 August 2004. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
3. "iaaf.org – Top Lists". IAAF. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
4. "IAAF Games of the XXX Olympiad – Athens 2004 Entry Standards". IAAF. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
5. "Men's Handball Team Roster – Croatia (CRO)" (PDF). 2004 Athens. LA84 Foundation. 17 September 2015. p. 211.
6. "Men's Water Polo Team Roster – Croatia (CRO)" (PDF). 2004 Athens. LA84 Foundation. 21 September 2015. p. 192.

External links

• Official Report of the XXVIII Olympiad
• Croatian Olympic Committee