Croatian Olympic Committee

Lausanne, July 20, 2018 – The Croatian Olympic Committee (HOO) received nice news came from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne. Taekwondoka Nikita Glasnović, who decided to change her sports citizenship last year and - after her native Sweden - to perform for Croatia, officially gained the right to perform for Our Beautiful Homeland at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.

Zagreb, June 23, 2018 – On June 23, the Croatian Olympic Family celebrated the International Olympic Day, which celebrates this year its 70th anniversary, through a series of sports matches and events throughout Croatia.

Zagreb, June 5, 2018 – The President of the Croatian Olympic Committee and member of the European Olympic Committees’ Executive Board, Zlatko Mateša, was presented the award “Power brands – Hall of Fame” in London last weekend.

Zagreb, April 4, 2018 – Seven years ago, the Sports Television (SPTV), owned by the Croatian Olympic Committee (HOO), started its national broadcasting in terrestrial network.

Zagreb, January 27, 2018 - Under the slogan "Museums and Sport", this year's edition of the event Night of Museums began symbolically at the sports hall of the Zagreb Gymnastics Club (ZTD) Hrvatski sokol (Croatian hawk).Even more symbolic was the appearance of the World Gymnastics Champion Tin Srbić in the sports hall where he was "laying foundations" for the greatest success of the Croatian gymnastics. The exhibition on the activity of the association Hrvatski sokol was held at the ZTD, which is actually a branch office of the Croatian Sports Museum, since recently headed by the agile Director Danira Bilić, who has presented – through a very inspirational speech - the richness of the sport's museum legacy. The opening of the Night of Museums was attended, among numerous officials and representatives from sports, culture and other social activities, led by Zvonko Kusić, Head of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) and the Croatian Olympic Committee representatives - President Zlatko Mateša and Vice-President Morana Paliković Gruden.Many other museums also gave "sports spirit" to this year's event, so the Croatian History Museum put the focus on the boxing match of legendary Mate Parlov and the Argentine Miguel Angelo Cuello that took place some forty years ago. Throughout the night, everybody could watch the said famous match on the video wall, while the museum walls featured newspaper articles from that time ...The Night of Museums has clearly shown the importance of sports in the Croatian society to more than one hundred visitors through around one hundred museums and galleries throughout our Beautiful homeland. (coc/vk)

Lausanne, January 20th, 2018 - Following the invitation of the International Olympic Committee, the fourth meeting between the NOC delegation of the Republic of Korea, led by the President Lee Kee-heung and Minister of Culture, sports and tourism, Do Jong-hwan and NOC delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (the so-called North Korea), led by the NOC’s President and Minister of Sport Kim ll Guk, was held at the IOC’s headquarters in Lausanne, in the Olympic spirit of respect and friendship.In the company of the host, the IOC’s President Thomas Bach, the first person responsible for the organization of the Winter Olympics Pyeongchang 2018 (POCOG), Lee Heebee, also attended the meeting that resulted in the Olympic Korean Peninsula Declaration. This great victory of Olympism implies the participation of the North Korea’s NOC delegation and joint activities with the host of Winter Olympics 2018, the NOC of the Republic of Korea. In the decision on the participation of North Korean NOC’s athletes at the Winter Olympics 2018 - the International Olympic Committee has approved accreditations for 22 athletes, 24 officials and 21 media representatives. The International Olympic Committee has accepted the proposal on participation of two sports delegations at the opening ceremony under the joint name "Korea". The delegation will enter the Olympic Stadium with the Korean unification flag (with the emblem of the island), carried by two athletes, one from each NOO. The International Olympic Committee has also decided to allow two National Olympic Committees to form - for the first time in their Olympic history - a joint representation in a sport. The joint female ice hockey team will be formed by adding 12 players and one North Korean coach to the existing 23-player Olympic team of the host. With regard to fair play, only 22 players will participate in the game, as is the case with all the Olympic teams. The main coach, responsible for selecting of athletes, will be from South Korea. He will include at least three hockey players from North Korea's NOC in every match. The united women's ice hockey team will present itself under the Korean unification flag and perform as Korea (COR) and the hymn will be the song "Arirang". In all other sports, the athletes will compete for their NOCs in their own jerseys.The International Olympic Committee has awarded a dozen additional quotas to the North Korean athletes in figure and speed skating, cross-country and alpine skiing.The athletes and delegation from North Korea will arrive at the Olympic Village no later than February 1st, 2018 and they will, like all the athletes participating at the Olympics, undergo the anti-doping testing. (ioc/coc/vk)

The 65th edition of Olimp magazine brings an abundance of interesting sports reads, with report on the Great Day of Croatian Sport and presentation of achievements/results( in 2017 as one of its central topics. In the Olympic legends section, the guest is the handball Olympian Mirko Bašić, the ideal collocutor in days prior to the handball "fever" and hosting the Euro 2018, while the judoka Helena Vuković, Cadet World Champion (+70 kg), is presented as an Olympic hope.

Zagreb, December 20, 2017 – During the traditional celebration of the Great Day of Croatian Sport, held in the Crystal Hall of the Westin hotel in Zagreb, the Croatian Olympic Committee declared the most successful female and male athletes and coaches in the year reaching its end and presented valuable recognitions to the most deserving ones.

Zagreb, December 8, 2017 - Following the agreement signed last year with the Cuban Olympic Committee on cooperation and exchange of experiences and experts in the field of sports, the President of the Croatian Olympic Committee (HOO) Zlatko Mateša hosted Cuban Ambassador Juan Antonio Fernandez Palacios and his associates.

Zagreb, November 25, 2017 - The closing day of the 46th General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) passed by in presentations of this year's and future sports events under the auspices of the EOC. It was a logical continuation of the spectacular Olympic presentations - Pyeongchang 2018, Tokyo 2020, Winter Olympics Beijing in 2022 and 2024 in Paris, the hosting city of the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad.

Zagreb, November 24, 2017 - Four Olympic Association Presidents - Thomas Bach (International Olympic Committee), Janez Kocijančič (European Olympic Committees), Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah (ANOC - Association of National Olympic Committees) and Zlatko Mateša (Croatian Olympic Committee) opened with welcoming speech the 46th General Assembly of the European Olympic Committee (EOC), which began its two-day session this Friday in Zagreb.

Zagreb, November 22, 2017 - After Dubrovnik in 2004, Croatia is again the host of the European Olympic Committee’s (EOC) Assembly, this time on November 24 and 25, 2017 in the Crystal Hall of the Westin Hotel in Zagreb.

Zagreb, October 30, 2017 - Following the competition for two Croatian representatives in the European selection of young reporters, participants of IOC’s media training during the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Buenos Aires in 2018, the four-member board of the Croatian Olympic Committee and the Croatian Association of Sports Journalists (HZSN) has decided that our Our Beautiful Homeland will be represented by Simona Margetić from Koprivnički Bregi and Filip Ožbolt from Rijeka.

Zagreb, October 19, 2017 – Great Day of Croatian Sport, a traditional Croatian Olympic Committee's celebration at the end of another successful sports year, will be held on Wednesday, December 20th at the Crystal Hall of the Westin hotel in Zagreb, starting at 8 p.m..

Zagreb, October 4, 2017 - How a talented young footballer with suddenly ended career due to a broken leg became a top athlete? The 64th issue of Croatian Olympic Committee's (HOO) magazine Olimp brings you the explanation of this miraculous sports turn through the story about European Junior Champion at 800 meters Marin Bloudek.

Zagreb, October 5, 2017 – In the organization of the Croatian Olympic Committee’s Gender Equality in Sport Commission and Karlovac County Sports Association, the 8th seminar for coordinators from national sports federations was held at the Freshwater Aquarium Aquatica. A seminar titled "Men and Gender Equality in Sports: Aid or Obstacle?" was attended by around 60 male and female attendees, including 35 female coordinators and ten lecturers.

Zagreb, September 12, 2017 - On the occasion of 25th anniversary of the Croatian athletes’ first appearance at the Summer Olympics under their own Croatian flag in Barcelona in 1992, the Croatian Olympic Committee (HOO) hosted the occasional celebration with the members of the first Croatian Olympic delegation headed by the then director of the Croatian Olympic Committee, Marijan Malović.

Zagreb, August 30th, 2017 – Until the Tokyo Olympics 2020, for which 50 potential candidates have been recorded up to August this year, the Croatian Olympic Committee and the relevant Olympic Programme Office have prepared a rich schedule of multi-sports events, as many as nine of them. Besides the two mentioned projects – PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018 and Tokio Olympics 2020 - adopted by the Croatian Olympic Committee’s Council, extensive preparations are being made, in cooperation with national sports federations, for seven more.

MIES, August 23, 2017 ( COC/ Hina) – As announced on Wednesday, the famous Croatian basketball player Toni Kukoč made up to FIBA Hall of Fame’s 2017 Class of Inductees, along with the great American center player Shaquille O'Neal and the original “Dream Team”, the U.S. Olympic Basketball Team that performed at the Barcelona Olympics 1992.

Zagreb, August 12, 2017 – After a serious illness Zdravko Hebel, second President of the Croatian Olympic Committee (2000-2002) and winner of gold medal in Water Polo at the Mexico Olympics 1968, passed away in Zagreb at the age of 75.  

Zagreb, July 29, 2017 – The President and Secretary General of the Croatian Olympic Committee, Zlatko Mateša and Josip Čop, congratulated the Croatian male National Water Polo Team on winning the World Champion title on Saturday, July 29 in Budapest, in the match against the Hungarian National Water Polo Team.

Zagreb, June 20, 2017 - On the occasion of the World Refugee Day (June 20th), the Croatian Olympic Committee (COC) and the Croatian Olympians Club (HKO) joined the global UNHCR campaign #WithRefugees urging the governments around the world to make sure that each refugee family has the right to a safe place to live, the right to work and learn and that each refugee child is provided the education.

Montreal, May 20, 2017 - The Foundation Board of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), a member of which is also the President of the Croatian Olympic Committee Zlatko Mateša, held a meeting on May 18, 2017 in the Canadian city of Montreal. Decisions have been made on a series of measures that will affect WADA's progress and sport without doping.

Zagreb, May 8, 2017 - On its session, held on May 8, the Council of the Croatian Olympic Committee appointed Josip Čop Secretary General for a four-year-term. To Josip Čop, the only candidate in the competition, this is the fourth appointment for the duty he has been carrying out since 2005.

Zagreb, March 9, 2017 – On March 9, the President of the Croatian Olympic Committee (HOO) Zlatko Mateša, President of the Croatian Athletics Federation (HAS) Ivan Veštić and Mayor of the City of Vukovar Ivan Penava presented the project of construction of the athletic stadium in Vukovar at the Croatian Olympic Committee’s headquarters.

Zagreb, February 14, 2017 - The Croatian Olympic Academy (HOA) selected the candidates to attend the 57th International Youth Leadership Conference organized by the International Olympic Academy from June 17-July 1, 2017 in the Greek city of Olympia.

Zagreb, January 17, 2017 - President and Secretary General of the Croatian Olympic Committee, Zlatko Mateša and Josip Čop, congratulated today all the athletes and sports professionals the Great Day of Croatian Sport, i.e. the celebration held in memory of January 17, 1992 when the IOC brought the Decision on temporary recognition of the Croatian Olympic Committee.

Zagreb, January 16, 2017 (Hina) – The highest state awards in the field of sports, the awards "Franjo Bučar", awarded by the Republic of Croatia for exceptional achievements and especially significant contribution to the development of sports in Croatia, were presented at the ceremony held on Monday, January 16 in the premises of the Ministry of Science and Education.

Zagreb, January 3, 2017 - The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach looked back at the successful Olympic year 2016, stating that sports is one of the few activities that have the strength and the power to unite people in, as he highlighted, ever more "fragile" world.

After full 25 years (since the independence of the Republic of Croatia), Croatian sports is not “assigned” to one of the relevant ministries of the Croatian Government anymore. According to the Law on Organization and Scope of Ministries and other Central State Administration Bodies, in November this year it has received, for the first time, its own office – the Central Office for Sports.

With one voice against, the Croatian Olympic Committee’s Assembly elected, at its Electoral Session held on October 6, 2016, Zlatko Mateša for President of the Croatian Olympic Committee in the mandate period 2016-2020. This is his fifth mandate as Head of the umbrella sports institution, and his candidacy was supported by 33 national sports federations of Olympic and 30 of Non-Olympic sports as well as 20 county sports associations.

The 150th anniversary of birth of Franjo Bučar, the founder and the strongest promoter of Olympism in Croatia, has been celebrated with an exhibition held on November 25 at the Croatian Sports Museum in Zagreb.

Doha, November 17, 2016 - Two-day long 21st session of the ANOC’s (Association of National Olympic Committees) General Assembly, held in Doha, capital of Qatar, ended on November 16, 2016. Among 1,200 participants, there were also the President and the Secretary General of the Croatian Olympic Committee (HOO), Zlatko Mateša and Josip Čop, and winner of Olympic medals, the taekwondoist Lucija Zaninović.

The President and Secretary General of the Croatian Olympic Committee (HOO), Zlatko Mateša and Josip Čop, congratulated Janica Kostelić, appointed by the Croatian Government at today's meeting the first Secretary of State for Sports:

ZAGREB, November 7, 2016 (Croatian news agency HINA) - Croatian Skating Federation presented a new large project, according to which from now on the Croatian skating will be represented at the world's biggest competitions by an interesting sports couple, Lana Petranović and Russian skater to perform under our flag, Antonio Laudelino Souza Cordejru.

Zagreb, October 6th, 2016 - At the electoral session of the Croatian Olympic Committee’s Assembly held on October 6th, 2016, Zlatko Mateša was re-elected to the position of the Croatian Olympic Committee’s President in the mandate period 2016-2020. He was elected with 121 of 123 votes. This will be his fifth term to head the umbrella sports organizations in the Republic of Croatia. He was first elected at the extraordinary Croatian Olympic Committee’s Electoral Assembly in 2002 with 74 votes, followed by 2004 with 61 votes, while in the last two terms he was elected unanimously.

Zagreb, September 10, 2016  - At the ceremony, broadcasted live on Sports Television (which celebrates this year its fifth anniversary), presenting the IOC President’s Award “Sky is the limit” to the President of the Croatian Olympic Committee, the Head of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach addressed the guests and said: "It is my great pleasure to be here at a special ceremony of Croatian sports and for me personally, as the celebration of 25th anniversary of establishment of the Croatian Olympic Committee is an emotional event for me because I remember my first visit to Croatia in 1992 in a very difficult time for this country. However, even then Croatia was an important member of the International Olympic Committee. Your athletes are an additional, even greater reason for my pleasure; you can be very proud of the results they achieved in Rio de Janeiro. Congratulations to Croatia! ", said Bach and continued: