Zoran Primorac (born 10 May 1969) is a retired male

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player from

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. He is a two-time winner of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and one of only three table tennis players to have competed at seven Olympic Games. His highest ITTF world ranking was number 2, in 1998.

Biography

Primorac was born in

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...

and started playing table tennis at the club STK "Bagat" in his home town. As a junior, he won seven medals at European championships. In 1985 he moved to the

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

club "Vjesnik", Caja Granada and UMMC Verkhnaya Pyshma. At the 1987 World Championship in New Delhi he won the silver medal together with

Ilija Lupulesku Ilija Lupulesku ( sr-cyr, Илија Лупулеску; born October 30, 1967) is a former Serbian and later American table tennis player who competed at the 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in ...

, and repeated the success by winning the silver at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

. Together with Lupulesku he also won the 1990 European Championship in Gothenburg. Primorac competed for Croatia at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in Barcelona where he reached last 16 in singles and doubles. He repeated the same at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. At the 2004 Summer Olympics he was eliminated in the third round. At 2008 Summer Olympics Primorac lost in the quarter-final of the men's singles event to

Jörgen Persson Jörgen Persson (born 22 April 1966, in Halmstad, Sweden) is a Swedish table tennis player. In two memorable World Table Tennis Championships finals he faced fellow Swede Jan-Ove Waldner in 1989 and 1991, losing the former and winning the latter ...

. Primorac, Belgian

Jean-Michel Saive Jean-Michel Saive (born 17 November 1969) is a Belgian former professional table tennis. Saive competed at seven consecutive Olympics between 1988 and 2012, and he was also a winner in singles at European Championship 1994. Personal life Born ...

, and Swede

are the first table tennis players to have competed at seven Olympics, having competed in all Games since the sport was introduced in 1988. In 1993 he won a bronze medal in Men's singles at World Table Tennis Championships. He won silver medal in 1995 and bronze in 1999 at World Championships in Men's doubles event. At the 1998 and 2000 European Championships Primorac won silver medal in men's singles. In 1998 final he lost against

Vladimir Samsonov Vladimir Samsonov or Uładzimir Samsonaŭ ( be, Уладзімір Віктаравіч Самсонаў, russian: Владимир Викторович Самсонов, born 17 April 1976) is a Belarusian former professional table tennis player ...

and in 2000 he lost against Peter Karlsson. At the 1992, 1994, 2002 and 2005 European Championship he won the bronze medal in men's singles. At the 2007 European Championship in Belgrade he won the silver medal in the team event with Croatia (with Roko Tošić, Andrej Gaćina and Tan Ruiwu). At the Mediterranean Games in the men's singles event he won gold medal in 1987, silver in 1993 and 1997 and bronze in 1991. In the men's doubles event he won gold medals in 1987 and 1991, silver in 1993 and bronze in 1997. He currently uses specially-designed equipment made by Butterfly Table Tennis. He uses the Timo Boll spirit blade, while using Tenergy 05 rubber on both sides of his racket. In the TV comedy ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series o ...

'', the character Dwight Schrute names Zoran Primorac as one of his heroes, but pronounces his name incorrectly. In 2018, Primorac was elected Chair of the ITTF Athletes Commission.

Achievements

References

External links

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Zoran Primorac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Primorac, Zoran 1969 births Living people Croatian male table tennis players Olympic table tennis players of Yugoslavia Olympic table tennis players of Croatia Table tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Sportspeople from Zadar Olympic medalists in table tennis Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Croatia Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Croatia Competitors at the 1993 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1997 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in table tennis

Biography

Achievements

See also

References

External links