Croatian athletes proved very successful in Stara Zagora for the Balkan Championships, held on July 20-21, 2018.
Croatian Olympic athletes Andrea Ivančević and Ivan Horvat, and the young Sven Cepuš won the gold at the Balkan Championships, which was held in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria on Friday and Saturday. In total, the Croatia national team won three gold, two silver, and five bronze medals among the 16 representations, reports Gol.hr on July 22, 2018.
Croatian record holder Andrea Ivančević came to the gold in the 100m hurdles with a final score of 12.93 seconds, and in the same race, Ivan Lončarek (13.17) won the bronze.
“I am very happy with the first place. Most of all, I am delighted to see this result before the European Championships in Berlin – and what an excellent indicator it is for the next race,” Andrea Ivančević said after the win.
For pole vaulter Ivan Horvat, a jump of 5.30 meters was enough for the gold, as none of his competitors could jump past more than 5.10 meters.
Junior representative Sven Cepuš celebrated in the 800 meters race with a new personal record, 1:47.51 minutes, which was the first time he fell below the 1:48.00 limit. None of the competitors in Stara Zagora could follow his tempo to the finish.
The silver medals at this year’s Balkan Championships were awarded to Hrvoje Čukman in the 400m hurdles, with his best score this season (51.16), and Elija Valentić in pole vaulting (3.80 meters).
Along with Ivan Lončarek, the bronze medal was awarded to Paola Borović in the long jump, who hit a personal record (13.55 meters), Lora Ontl in the 3000 meters (11:18.83 minutes), Dino Bošnjak in the 3000 meters race (8:16.85 minutes), and Mateo Parlov, Hrvoje Čukman, David Šalamon and Mateo Kovačić in the 4 x 400 meters (3:09.04 minutes).
