Usain Bolt at the Boris Hanzekovic Memorial in Zagreb (© Zagreb Meeting)
The Boris Hanzekovic Memorial in Zagreb (1951), which is celebrating its 75th edition this week, has been awarded the World Athletics Heritage Plaque in the category of ‘Competition’.
The meeting – now a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event – and its 110m hurdles memorial race were named after hurdler Boris Hanzekovic, one of Croatia’s best athletes before WWII, who was killed while trying to escape from the Jasenovac concentration camp.
The plaque, which will be officially presented on behalf of World Athletics Heritage at the meeting on Saturday (24) by European Athletics vice president Cherry Alexander, will be permanently displayed at the Dinamo-Zrinjevac Athletics Club in Zagreb.
The World Athletics Heritage Plaque is a location-based recognition, awarded for an outstanding contribution to the worldwide history and development of the sport of track and field athletics and of out of stadia athletics disciplines such as cross country, mountain, road, trail and ultra-running, and race walking.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe commented: “World Athletics is delighted to salute the illustrious history of the Boris Hanzekovic Memorial, Zagreb, the oldest sporting event in Croatia, with the award of a World Athletics Heritage Plaque.
“My friend and former colleague on the World Athletics Council Alberto Juantorena, whose 800m world record I broke in 1979, won his first international race and set a Cuban record over 400m at the meeting in 1973.
“Alberto is just one of the many international stars who have been attracted to compete in Zagreb since the competition, which today is a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold circuit event, was founded in 1951. High jumping and sprint legends Valeriy Brumel and Usain Bolt, and Croatian heroes such as Sandra Elkasevic and Blanka Vlasic, have all been drawn to the meeting which honours hurdler Boris Hanzekovic, who was killed in WWII.
“Congratulations to all those connected with the meeting as it celebrates its 75th edition in 2025.”
Boris Hanzekovic (© Zagreb Meeting)
Meeting Director of the Boris Hanzekovic Memorial Natko Bosnjak commented: “This World Athletics Heritage Plaque is not just a recognition of our athletics meeting, but a tribute to all the generations of people who have built it over the past 75 years – athletes, coaches, volunteers, fans and partners.
“We would especially like to thank the family of the late Boris Hanzekovic, the City of Zagreb, Government of the Republic of Croatia and World Athletics for their continuous support. It is a celebration of perseverance, tradition, and excellence. We are proud that Zagreb has been recognised on the global athletics map as a city with such a rich sporting legacy.
“The Heritage Plaque honours not only our past but also inspires us to continue developing this event for future generations. Our mission has always been to preserve the memory of Boris Hanzekovic and to offer athletes from around the world a stage worthy of their talent and dedication.”
Meeting history
The Boris Hanzekovic Memorial originated as an inter-club duel between Mladost and Dinamo and became an international event in 1962. In the following years, numerous good athletes from the Soviet Union, Hungary, Bulgaria, East Germany and Cuba participated in the meeting, and soon also others from Austria and West Germany.
The meeting made the next big step forward in the 1970s, with the Vjesnik newspaper publishing company as General Sponsor. Then, at the end of the 1980s, in the wake of the 1987 Universiade held in Zagreb, and after the crisis years during the war in Croatia at the beginning of the 1990s, the Zagreb Meeting increasingly developed in importance.
The meeting received Grand Prix status in 2000 and in 2020 it became part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold.
Zagreb Meeting 800m action in 1972 (© Zagreb Meeting)
It was at the Zagreb Meeting in 2009 that Blanka Vlasic cleared 2.08m, which was then the second-best high jump result ever. One of the best athletes of all time, Usain Bolt, ran the 100m meeting record of 9.85 in 2011, and in 2017 the two-time world and Olympic discus champion Sandra Elkasevic threw 70.83m.
The 110m hurdles memorial race has featured all Olympic and world champions and world record-holders in the past 30 years. The meeting record stands to Mark Crear with 12.98 from 1999.
Since 2014, the shot put – named the Ivan Ivancic Memorial – has been taking place outside of the stadium, at the Zagreb Fountains. In 2016, for the first time in 28 years, two shot putters threw beyond 22.20m. They were Olympic champion Ryan Crouser and Olympic bronze medallist Tom Walsh.
World Athletics Heritage
With thanks to the local organising committee.
