Jurica Grabušić (born 28 March 1983) 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 athlete who specializes in the 110 metre hurdles. A double Olympic competitor (

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) in his event, he also participated in

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of 2 to 4 athletes make timed speed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobslei ...

at the 2006 Olympic Games.

Early career

He was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, and joined the sports club Hrvatski Akademski Atletski Klub Mladost, the athletics section of '' Mladost''. He took his first of several national titles in 2001, both outdoors and indoors. As a junior athlete he made his international debut at the 2000 World Junior Championships, where he failed to progress from the first round of the hurdles competition. At the 2002 World Junior Championships he placed sixth in the hurdles final, and also competed in the 100 metres event. He also competed at the 2002 European Indoor Championships and the 2002 European Championships without progressing from the first round. His personal best time by 2002 was 13.80 seconds.

Olympic career

The next season Grabušić lowered his personal best time to 13.54 seconds, achieved in July in

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. In 2004 he only ran in 13.79 seconds, but still competed in the 2004 Olympic Games, where he failed to reach the final round. In 2005 he won the bronze medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games. From then, Grabušić concentrated on another sport –

. He participated in the 2006 Olympic Games as a part of the national four-man bobsleigh team. The team also consisted of 44-year-old Ivan Šola, as well as two athletics sprinters, Slaven Krajačić and Dejan Vojnović. The bobsleigh team finished in 23rd place overall. After a quiet year in 2007, Grabušić took up the hurdles again. He ran the distance in 13.72 seconds in June 2008 in

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to qualify for his third

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 ...

. He failed to progress to the second round of the hurdles event there, but at the 2009 European Indoor Championships he reached the semi-final. His personal best time in the 110 m hurdles is still 13.54 seconds. He also has 10.36 seconds in the 100 metres, achieved in June 2008 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 ...

; and 6.71 seconds in the 60 metres, achieved in February 2008 in Zagreb.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grabusic, Jurica 1983 births Living people Croatian male hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Croatia Croatian male bobsledders Bobsledders at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic bobsledders for Croatia Athletes from Zagreb Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Croatia Athletes (track and field) at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics 21st-century Croatian sportsmen