The competition includes fun events and promotes friendship.
A months-long quest for the new Croatian winners of the City Games tournament ended in Vir on Friday, reports Jutarnji List on September 2, 2018.
Organized by the Municipality of Vir, Vir Tourism and the Adria Events agency, Vir hosted the grand finals of the project which during its ninth season visited the whole region. Numerous spectators witnesses the competition among the six best Croatian teams from Ploče, Krk, Komolac, Mali Lošinj, Šibenik and Vir.
The path to the medals led through six fun and demanding events, such as flying water polo, rescuing a tourist, barrel racing. The new set design further improved the games in which it was not easy to reach the finish line even for the most experienced teams. Komolac, Ploče and Krk were running neck-and-neck for the first position, and the winner was ultimately decided by the final rowing race between the teams of Ploče and Krk.
At the end of the two-hour competition, accompanied by the noisy support from the fans, the prestigious title of the City Games winners for Croatia was won by the Daj Mare team from Krk. This is their second title of the City Games champions. One of the prizes for the winners is a trip to the Maribor Pohorje mountain in Slovenia, where this winter, together with national champions from other countries, they will enjoy the skiing. In addition, the winning team will take part in the International City Games competition that will be held in Luxembourg in 2020.
“We did not expect a win, but we had confidence in ourselves until the very end. We are happy that we succeeded in defeating Ploče in their strongest event and in that way decided this year’s winner. We are happy to bring the title back to Krk,” said captain of the winning team Vladimir Babić.
The second place was won by the “Plina Istočna” team from Ploče, which needed a bit more energy in the final rowing event to defend the last year’s title. “Last year, we were champions and this year we won the second place. We were close to winning again, but Krk was better today and we congratulate them,” said Tomislav Batinović, the leader of the team from Ploče.
Although they were leading for most of the finals, the Ombla team from Komolac ultimately won a bronze medal, followed by teams from Šibenik, Mali Lošinj and Vir. Despite their somewhat weaker results, their “fair play” approach contributed to the success of the City Games, a spectacle which promotes positive values and friendship.
Translated from Jutarnji List.