Slaven Krajačić (born 14 September 1980) 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 sportsperson. He started his career as a sprinter specializing in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

, and competed at the

2000 Olympic Games 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 ...

. Since 2003, he has competed as a

bobsled 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 Bobs ...

der, competing in two

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

, earning his best finish of 20th in the four-man event at

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Athletics 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 enrolled the sports club Hrvatski Akademski Atletski Klub Mladost, the athletics section of '' Mladost''. He became Croatian 100 metres champion in 2000, and 60 metres indoor champion in 2001. In 1998 he reached the quarter-final of the 1998 World Junior Championships.. Retrieved on 22 March 2009. His first major senior event was the

. He competed in the 100 metres event, but did not progress from the first round. He also competed with the Croatian team in the 4 x 100 metre relay, but was knocked out in the heats there as well. His personal best time was 10.47 seconds, achieved in the heats at the 1998 World Junior Championships. He also has 6.68 seconds in the 60 metres, achieved in February 2001 in Šempeter,

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. He came close to his personal best time on several occasions, running seasons bests of 10.50 seconds in 2000 and 10.48 seconds in 2002. However, he retired from international athletics after the 2002 season.

Bobsleigh career

After his retirement from athletics, Krajačić took up

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 ...

, participating in the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, as a part of the national four-man bobsleigh team. The team also consisted of 44-year-old

Ivan Šola Ivan Šola (born 12 December 1961) is a Croatian bobsledder who has competed since 1999. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of 20th in the four-man event at Vancouver in 2010. Šola also competed in the FIBT World Champi ...

, as well as two athletes,

Jurica Grabušić Jurica Grabušić (born 28 March 1983) is a Croatian athlete who specializes in the 110 metre hurdles. A double Olympic competitor (2004, 2008) in his event, he also participated in bobsleigh at the 2006 Olympic Games. Early ca ...

and

Dejan Vojnović Dejan Vojnović (born 23 March 1975) is a retired Croatian sportsperson. He started his career as a sprinter specializing in the 100 metres run, and competed at the 2000 Olympic Games. Some years later he took up bobsleigh, participating in ...

. Krajačić had been a teammate of Vojnović in the 2000 Olympic relay race. The bobsleigh team finished in 23rd place overall. Four years later in

, Krajačić finished 20th in the four-man event. His best finish at the

FIBT World Championships The IBSF World Championships (known as the FIBT World Championships until 2015), part of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, have taken place on an annual basis since FIBT World Championships 1930, 1930. Starting with 2002, no Wo ...

was 24th in the four-man event at

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. That same year, Krajačić earned his best finish in a World Cup with a 23rd-place finish in the four-man event at

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. In 2020, its population was 2,205. The village of Lake Placid ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Krajacic, Slaven 1980 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Bobsledders at the 2006 Winter Olympics Bobsledders at the 2010 Winter Olympics Croatian male sprinters Croatian male bobsledders Living people Olympic athletes for Croatia Olympic bobsledders for Croatia Athletes from Zagreb 21st-century Croatian sportsmen