Belgrade, December 26 (Tanjug) - Despite huge problems created by
NATO's aggression from March 24 to June 10, Yugoslav athletes
nevertheless managed to maintain their high rating in international
competitions in 1999.
The year that is ending was especially important to Yugoslav
sport, with the athletes testing in numerous competitions for
qualifications for the coming Summer Games in Sydney, Australia.
Many were forced to suspend their training at home for between
three and six months, which could not but reflect on their
performance in individual sports.
The adverse conditions combined to produce comparatively modest
results in major international competitions.
Yugoslavs won 20 medals (2 gold, 5 silver, 13 bronze) in European
and world competitions for seniors, and another 2 (a gold and a
bronze) for younger seniors.
Then there were 24 medals (4 gold, 11 silver, 9 bronze) for
juniors, 6 medals (3 gold, 3 bronze) for cadets, a silver at the
University Games and 3 medals (1 gold, 2 silver) at the Youth
Olympic Days.
True to form, Yugoslavs confirmed their superiority in team
sports, winning medals in three out of five European and world
championships.
All this shows that Yugoslavia is still a sports power to be
reckoned with and that good results are to be expected at the 2000
Sydney Games.
The Yugoslav Olympic Committee (YOC) estimates that the national
Olympic team at Sydney should comprise some 100 athletes, more than
doubling the 48-member team that captured a gold, a silver and two
bronze medals at Atlanta 1996.
All medals of Yugoslav athletes
SENIORS:
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (2 gold, 2 silver and 7 bronze medals):
HANDBALL (Egypt), men's national team - bronze.
KICK-BOXING (Kyrgystan and Italy),
Ivan Strugar - gold,
Tanja Vujic - gold,
Jovan Nikolic - silver,
Bojana Trajkovic - silver,
Mirko Vlahovic - bronze,
Goranka Blagojevic - bronze,
Slobodan Marinkovic - bronze,
Milovan Gasic - bronze,
Dragan Durmic - bronze,
Stamena Milicevic - bronze.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (3 silver and 6 bronze medals):
KAYAK (Croatia), Ognjen Filipovic - silver.
CHESS (Georgia), women's national team (Alisa Maric, Natasa
Bojkovic, Marija Manakova) - silver.
BASKETBALL (France), men's national team - bronze.
VOLLEYBALL (Austria), men's national team - bronze.
SHOOTING (Netherlands), Jasna Sekaric - bronze.
ATHLETICS (Slovenia), Olivera Jevtic, cross-country - bronze.
KARATE (Greece), Predrag Stojadinov - silver, Dragan Miranovic - bronze, Snezana Peric - bronze.
YOUNGER SENIORS (under 23):
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (1 gold and 1 bronze medals):
ATHLETICS (Sweden), Olivera Jevtic, 10.000 m - gold
Olivera Jevtic, 5.000 m - bronze.
JUNIORS:
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (1 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals):
ROWING (Bulgaria), double (Ivan Smiljanic, Ivan
Nedeljkovic) - silver.
WATER POLO (Kuwait), men's national team - bronze.
KARATE (Bulgaria), Roksanda Lazarevic - gold,
Marina Otovic - silver, Sara Pekovic - bronze, Milan Lazic - bronze.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (3 gold, 9 silver and 6 bronze medals):
BOXING (Croatia), Geard Ajetovic - gold.
SHOOTING (France and Netherlands),
men's team (Nikola Paunovic, Marko Simic, Boris
Marinkovic) - silver, Nikola Paunovic - silver,
men's team (Boris Marinkovic, Marko Simic and Vasilije
Glisic) - bronze.
KAYAK (Croatia), Natasa Janic - silver.
TABLE TENNIS (Czech Republic), Bojan Milosevic - bronze,
double (Bojan Milosevic, Boris Vukelic) - bronze,
men's team (Boris Vukelic, Bojan Milosevic, Damir Conic) -
bronze.
KARATE (Spain), Roksanda Lazarevic - gold,
Marina Otovic - silver, Sara Pekovic - silver.
KICK-BOXING (Portugal), Tanja Vujic - gold, Milisav Ilic - silver,
Dragan Zdravkovic - silver, Gordana Rajic - silver,
Svetlana Pavlovic - silver, Aleksandra Vucicevic - bronze,
Bojana Trajkovic - bronze.
CADETS:
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (3 gold and 3 bronze medals):
BASKETBALL (Slovenia), men's national team - gold.
TABLE TENNIS (Czech Republic), women's team (Ana Marija Erdelji, Timea Tapai) - bronze, double (Ana Marija Erdelji, Timea Tapai) - bronze.
CHESS (Greece, under 12), Borki Predojevic - gold.
KARATE (Greece), Milos Krivokapic - gold, Laza Greber - bronze.
UNIVERSITY GAMES (Spain, 1 silver medal):
BASKETBALL, men's national team, juniors - silver.
YOUTH OLYMPIC DAYS (Denmark, 1 gold and 2 silver medals):
ATHLETICS, Marina Muncan, 3.000 m - gold, Maja Janjic, javelin throw - silver.
BASKETBALL, men's national team (under 23) - silver.