Branislav Pokrajac (; 27 January 1947 – 5 April 2018) was a Serbian

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

coach and player who competed for Yugoslavia in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

and in the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

Club career

At club level, Pokrajac made his debut with ORK Beograd, before moving to

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. He later played for and served as head coach of Dinamo Pančevo.

International career

At international level, Pokrajac competed for

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

in two Olympic tournaments, winning the gold medal in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

. He also won two bronze medals at the

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 ...

(

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

Coaching career

In 1980, Pokrajac was appointed as head coach for

. He led the team to the Olympic gold medal in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

References

External links

Olympic record
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pokrajac, Branislav 1947 births 2018 deaths Handball players from Belgrade Serbian male handball players Yugoslav male handball players Olympic handball players for Yugoslavia Olympic gold medalists for Yugoslavia Handball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Competitors at the 1967 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 1975 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia Mediterranean Games medalists in handball RK Crvena zvezda players Serbian handball coaches Yugoslav handball coaches Handball coaches of international teams Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Spain Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate handball coaches Coaches at the 1984 Summer Olympics Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Serbia and Montenegro sports coaches