Šime Fantela (born 19 January 1986) is a Croatian professional sailor. Competing in the 470 class with

Igor Marenić Igor Marenić (born 2 January 1986) is a Croatian professional sailor. Competing in the 470 class with Šime Fantela, he won gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the 2009 World Championships, and three European Championships (2009, 2011, 2012). ...

, he won gold at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, the 2009

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, and three European Championships (2009, 2011, 2012). At the 470 World Championships in 2009 in

Rungsted Rungsted, also known as ''Rungsted Kyst'', is an affluent suburban neighborhood in Hørsholm Municipality on the Øresund coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The center of Hørsholm is located two kilometers west of Rungsted. At the Øresund coast ...

, Fantela and Marenić became the first Croatians to win a gold medal at the ISAF World Championships.

Career

Early career

Fantela began sailing at the age of six. He competed in

Optimist World Championship The Optimist World Championship is an annual World Championship sailing regatta in the Optimist (dinghy), Optimist class organised by the International Optimist Dinghy Association. One of, if not the largest Boat racing, regatta of the optimist cl ...

class winning bronze in 1998 and gold in 2000. After the early successes in Optimist, he switched to the

470 __NOTOC__ Year 470 ( CDLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Iordanes (or, less frequently, year 1223 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

class with his colleague

. In six junior years in 470, they have won plenty of medals. They have become World Junior Champions on three occasions (2003, 2005 and 2007). They also won silver medal in 2006 and a bronze medal in 2004. At the European Junior Championships, they have won three medals; gold in 2005 and two silver medals (in 2002 and 2006). They won gold medal at the

2005 Summer Universiade The 2005 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXIII Summer Universiade, took place in İzmir, Turkey, in August. Emblem The emblem is the letter "U", inspired by the bird's-eye view of the Gulf of İzmir. This shape has perfectly fit the letter ...

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. At their first

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fi ...

they finished 4th. Their first bigger success among the seniors came in 2006 when they finished fifth at the World Championships. One year later, at the 2007 World Championships they finished sixth and earned an Olympic quota place for

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

becoming the fourth Croatian crew to qualify for the Olympics in 470 class.

2008 Summer Olympics

Fantela and Marenić were selected to represent Croatia at the 2008 Summer Olympics. At the regatta held in Qingdao International Marina between 11 and 18 August, they have finished ninth overall among 29 crews with 107 net points. They have won tenth race and finished in top 10 on four other occasions. In the medal race, they claimed eight place. Overall, Fantela was pleased with their performance at the 2008 Olympics: "We were hoping for top 10 position and we reached it". At the time, ninth place have been the best Croatian result in 470 at the Olympics.

Senior Breakthrough (2009–2012)

After the post-Olympic break, Fantela and Marenić began their campaign towards

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. They won gold medal at the 2009 European Championships in

Traunsee Traunsee ( , ) is a lake in the Salzkammergut, Upper Austria, Austria. Its surface is approximately 24.5 km2 and its maximum depth of 191 metres makes it the deepest and by volume largest lake located entirely within Austrian territory; only ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. They have become the first European Champions in Olympic classes from Croatia since 1978. At the

2009 Mediterranean Games The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially the XVI Mediterranean Games () and commonly known as Pescara 2009, was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009. It was governed by the International Committee of Mediterran ...

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

they won silver medal. Successes from 2009 were crowned at the 470 World Championships in Rungsted when Fantela and Marenić became first Croatian World Champions in Olympic sailing. In 2010, Fantela and Marenić went on to defend their World title. At the World Championships in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

they have won bronze medal though. They finished sixth at the European Championships in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. At the 2011 European Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Fantela and Marenić regained European title in tight competition with British and Israeli crews.

2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships The 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships was held in Perth, Western Australia, this was the third edition of the ISAF Sailing World Championships. It is the world championships for all disciplines used at the upcoming Olympics. As it used to ...

were held at the end of the year in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. Fantela and Marenić defended bronze medal from 2010 470 World Championships and secured an Olympic quota place for the

. At the 2012 Summer Olympics Fantela and Marenić finished in 6th place.

Acknowledgements

* Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar: 2016 * City of Zadar Award: 2005, 2009, 2016, 2018

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fantela, Sime 1986 births Living people Croatian male sailors (sport) Olympic sailors for Croatia Optimist class world champions Sailors at the 2008 Summer Olympics – 470 Sailors at the 2012 Summer Olympics – 470 Sailors at the 2016 Summer Olympics – 470 Sportspeople from Zadar Olympic gold medalists for Croatia Olympic medalists in sailing Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Croatia Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Croatia Competitors at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2013 Mediterranean Games Summer World University Games medalists in sailing World champions in sailing for Croatia 470 class world champions Mediterranean Games medalists in sailing FISU World University Games gold medalists for Croatia Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade Sailors at the 2020 Summer Olympics – 49er Optimist class sailors 21st-century Croatian sportsmen