Igor Boraska (born 26 September 1970) 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 ...

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

who won a bronze medal in the eights competition at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Early life

Boraska was born in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

, Yugoslavia. He attended

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, where he crewed for the school's team. Boraska graduated in 1994 with a degree in mechanical engineering and economics.

Rowing career

Boraska's teammates at Sydney were

Branimir Vujević Branimir Vujević (born 29 November 1974 in Zadar) is a Croatian rower who won a bronze medal in the eights competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, s ...

Nikša Skelin Nikša Skelin (born 25 March 1978, in Split) is a Croatian rower who has won two Olympic medals. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens he won a silver medal in coxless pairs with his older brother Siniša Siniša ( sr-Cyrl, Синиш ...

Siniša Skelin Siniša Skelin (born 14 July 1974, in Split) is a Croatian rower who has won two Olympic medals. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest ci ...

Krešimir Čuljak Krešimir Čuljak (born 18 September 1970 in Zagreb) is a Croatian rower who won a bronze medal in the eights competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, along with Igor Boraska, Nikša Skelin, Siniša Skelin, Branimir Vujević, T ...

Tomislav Smoljanović Tomislav Smoljanović (born 15 July 1977) is a Croatian medical scientist, physician, and a retired rower. Smoljanović won bronze at the 2000 Summer Olympics and silver at the 2001 World Championships as a member of the national eights team. ...

Tihomir Franković Tihomir Franković (born 30 September 1970) is a Croatian rower who won a bronze medal in the eights competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. His teammates were Igor Boraska, Nikša Skelin, Siniša Skelin, Branimir Vujević ...

Igor Francetić Igor Francetić (born 21 April 1977 in Zagreb) is a Croatian rower who won a bronze medal in the eights competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. His teammates were Igor Boraska, Nikša Skelin, Siniša Skelin, Branimir Vujević, Kre� ...

and

Silvijo Petriško Silvijo Petriško (born 20 November 1979 in Zagreb) is a Croatian rower, who won a bronze medal in the eights competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He was the coxswain of the team, compromising Igor Francetić, Igor Boraska, Nik ...

(coxswain). Boraska also participated 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, ...

and at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, both time in coxless four discipline. He was a World champion and a medalist at the

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international Rowing (sport), rowing regatta organized by International Rowing Federation, FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer ...

. He was a world record (world's best time) holder, for 20 years, in a coxed pair event set at 1994 World rowing championship. Boraska retired from competitive rowing in 2010.

Bobsleigh career

Boraska was a member of a Croatian team at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

, as a part of a four-men bobsleigh team. He is the first Croat who participated in both the Summer and the Winter Olympic Games.

References

External links

* * * * * 1970 births Living people Croatian male rowers Olympic rowers for Croatia Olympic bronze medalists for Croatia in rowing Olympic medalists in rowing Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Bobsledders at the 2002 Winter Olympics Croatian male bobsledders Olympic bobsledders for Croatia Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Rowers from Split, Croatia Brown University School of Engineering alumni 21st-century Croatian sportsmen {{Croatia-bobsleigh-bio-stub