Dragan Zdravković
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | Yugoslav Serbian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | (1959-12-16) 16 December 1959 (age 64) Senjski Rudnik, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Track | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | 1500 meters, mile | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal best(s) | 800m: 1:48.34[1] 1500m: 3:34.85[1] Mile: 3:52.24[1] 3000m: 7:40.49[1] 5000m: 13:35.83[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Dragan Zdravković (born 16 December 1959, in Senjski Rudnik) is a Serbian former middle-distance runner. He represented Yugoslavia in international competition from the late 1970s to 1980s, and was a finalist at the 1980 Summer Olympics.[2] Zdravković holds multiple outdoor and indoor Serbian records in athletics.
Running career
Zdravković initially practiced football as a youngster in Ćuprija, until a school teacher, Aleksandar "Aca" Petrović, suggested that he begin training athletics.[3] Zdravković's youth coaches emphasized gymnastics as a complement to his running workouts.[3] At the age of 21 he made his Olympic debut at the 1980 Summer Olympics. In the men's 1500 meters, he progressed through the qualifying heat and semi-final rounds, but finished last in the finals. In spite of this, he was particularly happy to race with Steve Ovett:
"Yes, Steve Ovett was more sympathetic to me than Sebastian Coe. Ovett was from a working family, but Coe was a Lord. In the Olympics final in Moscow they restricted warm ups on the training field, on the track only two strides were allowed before the race. I did my first stride and turned around. Ovett ran towards me, stopped next to me and offered his hand. I didn't want to wash it for four days from how happy I was. He was different, more natural." -Zdravković[4]
On 6 March 1983 Zdravković won the men's men's 3000 meters at the European Indoor Championships. On 15 July 1983 he won the men's 1500 meters in 3:35.28 (min:sec) at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in an upset over Sebastian Coe.[5]
"I didn't have anything to lose, even if I was second it would have been a great result. Even today I joke about that race and say 'even the blind chicken gets some grain'. To be honest, if we ran three days later, he would have beat me." -Zdravković[4]
He had qualified for the 1984 Summer Olympics, but the Athletics Federation of Yugoslavia had a sportswear contract with Adidas, and after not changing his sportswear to Adidas, Zdravković was taken off the Yugoslavian 1984 Olympic team.[3]
International competitions
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | Mediterranean Games | Split, Yugoslavia | 2nd | 1500 m | 3:41.22 |
1980 | Olympic Games | Moscow, Soviet Union | 9th | 1500 m | |
1982 | European Championships | Athens, Greece | 9th | 1500 m | 3:42.44 |
1983 | European Indoor Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 1st | 3000 m | |
World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 8th | 1500 m | ||
1985 | Universiade | Kobe, Japan | 3rd | 1500 m | 3:46.78 |
See also
- List of European Athletics Indoor Championships medalists (men)
References
- ^ a b c d e World Athletics. "Dragan ZDRAVKOVIĆ - Profile".
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Dragan Zdravković". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07.
- ^ a b c ASS (Atletski Savez Srbije) (3 February 2011). "KRALJ SREDNJIH PRUGA DRAGAN ZDRAVKOVIĆ" (in Serbian).
- ^ a b "Čovek koji je utišao "Kristal palas"" (in Serbian). January 8, 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- ^ "UPI: Dragan Zdravkovic of Yugoslavia upset world record-holder Sebastian Coe...". July 15, 1983. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
- v
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- 1966:
Harald Norpoth (FRG)
- 1967:
Werner Girke (FRG)
- 1968:
Viktor Kudynskyy (URS)
- 1969:
Ian Stewart (SCO)
- 1970:
Ricky Wilde (GBR)
- 1971:
Peter Stewart (GBR)
- 1972:
Juris Grustiņš (URS)
- 1973:
Emiel Puttemans (BEL)
- 1974:
Emiel Puttemans (BEL)
- 1975:
Ian Stewart (GBR)
- 1976:
Ingo Sensburg (FRG)
- 1977:
Karl Fleschen (FRG)
- 1978:
Markus Ryffel (SUI)
- 1979:
Markus Ryffel (SUI)
- 1980:
Karl Fleschen (FRG)
- 1981:
Alexandre Gonzalez (FRA)
- 1982:
Patriz Ilg (FRG)
- 1983:
Dragan Zdravković (YUG)
- 1984:
Lubomír Tesáček (TCH)
- 1985:
Bob Verbeeck (BEL)
- 1986:
Dietmar Millonig (AUT)
- 1987:
José Luis González (ESP)
- 1988:
José Luis González (ESP)
- 1989:
Dieter Baumann (FRG)
- 1990:
Éric Dubus (FRA)
- 1992:
Gennaro Di Napoli (ITA)
- 1994:
Kim Bauermeister (GER)
- 1996:
Anacleto Jiménez (ESP)
- 1998:
John Mayock (GBR)
- 2000:
Mark Carroll (IRL)
- 2002:
Alberto García (ESP)
- 2005:
Alistair Cragg (IRL)
- 2007:
Cosimo Caliandro (ITA)
- 2009:
Mo Farah (GBR)
- 2011:
Mo Farah (GBR)
- 2013:
Hayle Ibrahimov (AZE)
- 2015:
Ali Kaya (TUR)
- 2017:
Adel Mechaal (ESP)
- 2019:
Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)
- 2021:
Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)
- 2023:
Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)