Gordan Kožulj (born 28 November 1976) is a former

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

from

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 ...

. During his sporting career, Gordan achieved numerous successes some of them are: US (1998), Europe (2000, 2001, 2002) and World (2000) swimming championship titles, and breaking European (100m backstroke) and World (200m backstroke

World record progression 200 metres backstroke This is a history of the progression of the world record for the 200-meter backstroke event. It is a listing of the fastest-time-ever swum in the event, in both long course (50-meter) and Short course (swimming), short course (25-meter) swimmin ...

) short course swimming records. More specifically, at the

2003 World Aquatics Championships The 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships were held July 12–27, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. The championships featured competition in all 5 of FINA's disciplines: Swimming, Diving, Synchronised swimming, Water Polo, and Open Water Swimming. ...

he won a silver medal in 200 m backstroke. In 2000 in Athens he became a world champion in 200 m backstroke (short course). In 1999 he won two silver medals at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

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 ...

, Turkey. Later on, in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

he became a European champion in 200 m backstroke. Furthermore, Gordan competed in four consecutive

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

for his native country, starting in Atlanta

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 ...

and followed by Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and

Beijing 2008 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 fr ...

. Based on these results, Gordan was named Croatia's ''Sportsman of the Year'' (by Croatian sport journalists) and the Best Croatian Athlete in 2002 (by the

Croatian Olympic Committee The Croatian Olympic Committee (, HOO) is the non-profit organization representing Croatian athletes in the International Olympic Committee. The COC organizes Croatia's representatives at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. It also organizes the ...

). Also, the

President of Croatia The president of Croatia, officially the president of the Republic of Croatia (), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the country and abroad. The president ...

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...

awarded him with the Order for achievements in sports (1998) and received the special prize of the Croatian Olympic Committee for the best promoter of Croatian sport in the world. During his professional swimming career, he independently managed marketing / sponsorship and PR relations, and has introduced a new marketing approach to promoting athletes in the Croatian market. Academically, he graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, USA, with bachelor in

Political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

, and gained MBA (

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

) from the Faculty of Business and Economics, at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. Also, Gordan gained knowledge and experience in project management. In fact, he is a certified Project Manager Professional (PMP) issued by Project Management Institute (PMI).

Post-swimming career

Kožulj retired from competitive swimming at the 2008 European Short Course Swimming Championships in

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

. In March 2008 he was appointed director of the Croatian national swimming team, replacing acting director Tomislav Karlo. In September 2009 Kožulj was elected to the

European Olympic Committees The European Olympic Committees (EOC; ) is an organisation based in Rome, Italy, consisting of 50 National Olympic Committees from the continent of Europe.EOC members include transcontinental countries Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Russian ...

Athletes' Commission. He was also elected to be a member of the European Olympic Committees' Marketing Commission. Later on he was employed by Madison Consulting where he worked for clients with regards to strategic communication consulting. In 2013 he started working as management consultant at Deloitte, where his objective is to help companies and institutions in planning, growth and restructuring through resolving key issues such as strategy, operations and change management. Since 2010, as a member of National Council for sport, Gordan is adviser to the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

on sport issues, and acts as an Expert for the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

's Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Furthermore, he was a member of the Expert Committee (assembled by the National Agency for Science and Higher Education) for conducting the re-accreditation of higher education institutions (2014). In the period 2009–2012 he volunteered as a General Secretary of the largest Croatian charity foundation "Korak u život" (engl. Step into the life). In 2012/2013 Gordan was the Chairman of the Zagreb-Rijeka Candidacy for the European Universities Games 2016, and after successful bidding he assumed the role of the Vice president of the Organizing Committee (2013–2016).

Private life

Gordan is married to Ivana and they have two sons: Luka & Toma.

Olympic results

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kozulj, Gordan 1976 births Living people Male backstroke swimmers Croatian male swimmers Croatian sports executives and administrators Deloitte people Olympic swimmers for Croatia Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Zagreb Franjo Bučar Award winners World record setters in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Croatia Mediterranean Games medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2005 Mediterranean Games 21st-century Croatian sportsmen