Croatian male and female athletes proved this year that they are the true ambassadors of the country. In the last year, Croatian athletes of all ages won 244 medals, of which 85 were gold, at major international competitions. A look at some of the successes that marked the 2022 sports year, as reported by HRT.
And it’s easy to begin, as we just celebrated the peak of the 2022 sports year.
Croatia confirmed its status as a football superpower and won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was the nation’s third medal in six World Cups. Croatia beat Morocco in the third-place playoff on December 17 and was welcomed back to Croatia on December 18 with another spectacular hero’s welcome.
But that’s not the only team medal celebrated this year. In September, the Croatia water polo team clinched the European gold medal at Spaladium Arena in Split. Croatia celebrated in the final against Hungary, and Ivica Tucak’s players triumphantly completed their journey to the European gold.
The 2022 sports year was again marked by Sandra Perković, who wrote new pages in discus throwing history and won European gold for the sixth consecutive time. Her winning streak that began in 2010 in Barcelona was crowned in Munich. Filip Mihaljević also became the European champion in the shot put. Finally, Matea Parlov Koštro completed the most successful European competition for Croatian athletics in the Bavarian capital with a sensational silver in the marathon.
The Croatia Davis Cup national team was successful again and reached the semi-finals, where Australia stopped them. The unstoppable tennis duo Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavić won five ATP titles this year and even reached the Wimbledon final.
According to a beautiful tradition, the success of Croatia’s famous brothers in rowing and sailing continued this year as well. Martin and Valent Sinković won a new European gold in pairs in Munich, while Šime and Mihovil Fantela reached the sailing world bronze in the 49er class. Filip Jurišić also won bronze at the World Championships in the Ilca 7 class.
Anamaria Govorčinović won the canoe world silver and bronze, while Vanesa Tot took home two bronze medals in Europe.
There were also successes in martial arts, especially at the World Championships in Tashkent. In the category up to 70 kilograms, two female Croatian representatives reached the final – Barbara Matić defended the world champion title against Lara Cvjetko, which was an incredible moment in Croatian history!
Several medals were won in taekwondo, too, and Lena Stojković and Marjan Split have reason to be satisfied with their world and European gold.
There were even new successes in Croatian karate, as Anđela Kvesić won gold at the European Championship in Turkey.
Croatian boxing had medal winners at European championships in all age categories. The bronze medals for Luka Plantić and Sara Beram at the European Championship are the highlights.
At the beginning of this year, Croatia was represented at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing by 11 Olympians, with a whopping 6 in alpine skiing. It was another successful year for Croatia’s para-athletes, too, where four representatives participated in the Winter Paralympic Games – alpine climbers Damir Mizdrak and Lucija Smetiško, snowboarder Bruno Bošnjak, and Nordic skier Josip Zima.
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