Branko Zorko (born 1 July 1967) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n retired middle distance runner who specialized in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

. Zorko competed in the 1500 metres in five

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, from 1988 to 2004, making it through to the semi-finals in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. He won bronze medals at the 1993 World Indoor Championships in Toronto and the 1994 European Championships in Helsinki. In 1992 he was awarded the

Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport () is the highest recognition that Republic of Croatia gives for extraordinary achievements and contributions of remarkable meaning for the development of sport in Croatia. This award has been given since 1991. I ...

. He was born in Hodošan.

Running career

Early career

On November 20, 1984, Zorko ran his first ever race, which he won on a cross country course at the age of 17. Less than a year into training, he posted a time of 8:30 for 3000 meters and won a competitive high school race called ''Kros Sportskih Novosti''. He declined offers to train with AK Crvena Zvezda and instead remained in Križevci, where he did intervals on a track only once a week. The rest of his training took place on forest trails, where Zorko alleged that bystanders would ask him why he was running and tell him to "take a hoe and dig out some corn".

International

At his first major international competition, Zorko finished sixth in the men's

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

race at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships. In 1990, he won his first major medal, winning bronze at the

European Indoor Championships The European Indoor Championships was a men's tennis tournament played in Berlin, Germany. The event was played as part of the ATP Tour in 1990 and 1991. It was played on indoor carpet court A carpet court is a type of tennis court. The Intern ...

in Glasgow. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Zorko began specializing in middle-distance disciplines, and eventually found his talent in the

. In 1992, Zorko won the first international medal for the newly independent

, winning a bronze medal at the 1992 European Indoor Athletics Championships. A year later he won the bronze medal for the men's

at the

1993 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 4th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Skydome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from March 12 to March 14, 1993. It was the last Indoor Championships to feature the 5,000 and 3,000 metres race walk events. In addition, ...

, finishing only 0.39 seconds behind winner Marcus O'Sullivan. Next year, Zorko finished second in the 1500 at the 1994 European Athletics Indoor Championships, and third at the 1994 European Championships in Athletics. At the

1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 6th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France from March 7 to March 9, 1997. It was the first athletic championships to introduce women's pole vault. There were a total nu ...

and at the 2002 European Indoor Athletics Championships, he finished in fourth place in the respective 1500 metre races.

Pacemaking

By the late 1990s, Zorko was increasingly suffering from injuries, which prompted him to turn to professional pacemaking. As a pacemaker, he assisted in setting several world records, both indoors and outdoors, most notably for Haile Gebrselassie. On July 11, 2005, Zorko announced his retirement at the IAAF Grand Prix Zagreb.

Personal bests

Outdoors

Indoors

International competitions

References

External links

* * *
Croatian National Records - Men
(archive)

(archive)
Krizevci.eu: Branko Zorko
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zorko, Branko Croatian male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Croatia People from Međimurje County Sport in Međimurje County Olympic athletes for Yugoslavia Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics 1967 births Living people Franjo Bučar Award winners European Athletics Championships medalists Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Croatia Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1997 Mediterranean Games Yugoslavian Athletics Championships winners 21st-century Croatian sportsmen