Zagreb once again shone on the European athletics map this September, by hosting yet another highly successful edition of the Boris Hanžeković Memorial. The Zagreb Athletics Festivities took place from 8 to 10 September and included the long jump City Challenge competition in the main city square, a competition featuring the world’s top shot putters at the Ivan Ivančić Memorial near Zagreb fountains and all other disciplines at the Mladost Stadium on 10 September. Furthermore, for the first time, the BHM Athletics Conference focusing on the organization of major competitions and the WA ranking system was held.
At the 73rd Boris Hanžeković Memorial, there was a total of 240 athletes from 50 countries around the world and the television broadcast from Zagreb reached as many as 142 countries. During this year’s only three-day meeting in the world, numerous excellent results were achieved, which kept it at the forefront of world meetings and thus confirmed that Zagreb is at the top of the list of sports capitals. Indeed, according to the ranking of the World Athletics Federation (WA), the Zagreb meeting in 2023 secured the 16th place in the world and ranked third among WA Continental Tour Gold meetings, behind Los Angeles and Székesfehérvár.
Three days of athletic records in Zagreb
The results achieved by the athletes best reflect the quality of the organization and participants of the event. In Zagreb, one world record, one continental record, four meeting records, 13 national records and 50 personal records were set, along with many other outstanding results. One of the most impressive statistics is the number of victories by the best Croatian athlete, Sandra Perković, at the Hanžeković Memorial, who achieved her 11th victory this year.
The ninth Ivan Ivančić Memorial – the tenth shot put competition near Zagreb fountains – gathered eight finalists from the last world championship, two medalists and eight throwers who have surpassed 22 meters in their careers. The spectacular nature of this competition was attributed to New Zealander Tom Walsh, who won for the fifth time, thereby equaling the record for the most victories in Zagreb with Ryan Crouser, the greatest shot putter of all time, who also has five wins in Zagreb.
The winners of the second edition of the Zagreb City Challenge in the long jump were Filip Pravdica from Croatia with a jump of 8.09 meters and Tiffany Flynn from the USA, who leaped to 6.59 meters.
The fantastic conclusion of this year’s Zagreb meeting was provided by Beatrice Chepkoech from Kenya, who set a world record in the 2,000-meter steeplechase! She completed that distance in 5:47.42, which is five seconds better than the previous record held by the German Gesa Krause.
The hosting of the first athletics conference
As part of the 73rd Boris Hanžeković Memorial, the first athletic BHM conference was held in Hilton Garden Inn, gathering renowned athletic experts and top athletes. The conference program featured two panels and one lecture.
On the first panel titled “Advantages of Organizing Major Sporting Events,” the participants included the State Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Croatia, Josip Pavić; Jose Luis De Carlos from the European Athletics Federation; project manager of the Boris Hanžeković Memorial, Natko Bošnjak; the Secretary-General of the Athletics Federation of Serbia and the President of the Organizing Committee of last year’s World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Slobodan Branković and Professor from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb, Tomislav Globan.
The second panel, titled “World Ranking System,” introduced the new qualification system for major athletics competitions. The panel participants included Carlo de Angeli from the World Athletics Federation; the manager of the Boris Hanžeković Memorial, and several top athletes, Alfons Juck; a long jump specialist and co-founder of Jumpers World Agency Andreas Trajkovski and Tevž Korent, the coach of the European indoor runner-up in the 800 meters, Anita Horvat and other Slovenian athletes.
At the end of the BHM conference, a very interesting lecture was delivered by athletics coach John Coghlan, who guided Jasmine Camacho-Quinn to Olympic gold in the 100-meter hurdles and Andre De Grasse to the 200 meters.
The traditional Boris Hanžeković Memorial in 2024 will take place on 6, 7 and 8 September.
Photo credit: Julien Duval/BHM