Croatia at the 2016 Summer Olympics

The Croatian Olympic Committee (Croatian: Hrvatski olimpijski odbor, HOO) fielded a team of 87 athletes, 68 men and 19 women, across eighteen sports at the Games; it was the nation's fourth-largest delegation sent to the Olympics, but the smallest since 2004.^[9][10]

More than 50 percent of the men's side competed in traditional team sports, with the water polo players looking to defend their Olympic title from the London Games four years earlier. Track and field accounted for the largest number of athletes on the squad by an individual-based sport, with 10 entries. There was a single competitor each in diving, judo, table tennis, weightlifting, and wrestling.

Nine of the past Olympic medalists from the individual-based sports returned, including defending champions Giovanni Cernogoraz (men's trap shooting) and Sandra Perković (women's discus throw), taekwondo fighter Lucija Zaninović (women's 49 kg), along with her twin sister Ana, rifle shooter Snježana Pejčić, gymnast Filip Ude (men's pommel horse), and experienced high jumper Blanka Vlašić. Rowers Damir Martin and brothers Martin and Valent Sinković, all of whom won silver as members of the quadruple sculls crew from London 2012, qualified separately for the smaller boats at the Games, with the latter two entering as reigning world champions and top medal favorites in the double sculls.

Other notable athletes on the Croatian roster included world sailing champions Šime Fantela and Igor Marenić in the men's 470 class, world-ranked tennis player Marin Čilić, and boxing pro Filip Hrgović (men's super heavyweight). Water polo goalkeeper Josip Pavić, who helped his team secure a gold-medal triumph in the men's tournament at London 2012, was selected by the committee as Croatia's flag bearer for the opening ceremony.^[1]

Croatian athletes have achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):^[11][12]

Track & road events

Field events

Men

Women

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Sara Kolak	Javelin throw	64.30 NR	3 Q	66.18 NR
Sandra Perković	Discus throw	64.81	3 Q	69.21
Ana Šimić	High jump	1.89	22	Did not advance
Blanka Vlašić		1.94	=1 Q	1.97

Croatia has entered two boxers to compete in the following weight classes into the Olympic boxing tournament. Hrvoje Sep and Filip Hrgović were the only Croatians to be selected to the Olympic team by virtue of top two finishes of their respective division in the AIBA Pro Boxing series and World Series of Boxing.^[15][16]

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Hrvoje Sep	Men's light heavyweight	Salah (EGY) W 2–1	Borges (BRA) L 0–3	Did not advance
Filip Hrgović	Men's super heavyweight	Bye	Demirezen (TUR) W 3–0	Pero (CUB) W TKO	Yoka (FRA) L 1–2	Did not advance

Croatian riders qualified for a maximum of two quota places in the men's Olympic road race by virtue of their top 15 final national ranking in the 2015 UCI Europe Tour.^[17]

Croatia has received a spare continental berth freed up by South Africa from FINA to send a diver competing in the women's individual springboard to the Olympics, based on her results at the 2016 FINA World Cup series, signifying the nation's Olympic debut in the sport.^[18][19]

Croatia has entered two artistic gymnasts into the Olympic competition. Beijing 2008 silver medalist Filip Ude and Ana Đerek had claimed their Olympic spots each in the men's and women's apparatus and all-around events, respectively, at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.^[20][21]

Men

Women

Croatia has qualified one judoka for the women's middleweight category (70 kg) at the Games. Barbara Matić earned a continental quota spot from the European region as highest-ranked Croatian judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016.^[24]

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Barbara Matić	Women's −70 kg	Pérez (PUR) L 000–011	Did not advance

Croatia qualified two boats for each of the following classes into the Olympic regatta. Rowers competing in the men's single and double sculls had confirmed Olympic places for their boats at the 2015 FISA World Championships in Lac d'Aiguebelette, France.

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Damir Martin	Men's single sculls	7:23.08	2 QF	Bye		6:44.44	1 SA/B	6:59.43	2 FA	6:41.34
Martin Sinković Valent Sinković	Men's double sculls	6:30.09	1 SA/B	Bye		—N/a		6:12.27	1 FA	6:50.28

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Croatian sailors qualified one boat in each of the following classes through the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships, the individual fleet Worlds, and European qualifying regattas.^[25]

Men

Athlete	Event	Race													Net points	Final rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	M*
Luka Mratović	RS:X	13	11	15	21	DNF	19	27	18	34	26	31	30	EL	245	24
Tonči Stipanović	Laser	1	5	7	12	6	7	28	9	7	3	—N/a		18	76
Ivan Kljaković-Gašpić	Finn	6	8	10	15	8	8	4	10	2	13	—N/a		20	89	5
Šime Fantela Igor Marenić	470	1	2	4	1	3	3	4	8	6	3	—N/a		16	43
Petar Cupać Pavle Kostov	49er	9	17	11	10	11	1	18	18	15	13	8	10	EL	122	15

Women

M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race

Croatian shooters achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2014 and 2015 ISSF World Championships, the 2015 ISSF World Cup series, and European Championships or Games, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) by 31 March 2016.^[26]

Following the completion of the two-year qualifying period, Croatia had selected a total of seven shooters to compete at the Games, including 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Snježana Pejčić and defending Olympic trap champion Giovanni Cernogoraz.^[27]

Men

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Semifinal		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Giovanni Cernogoraz	Trap	116	9	Did not advance
Josip Glasnović		120	3 Q	15	1 Q	13 (+4)
Petar Gorša	10 m air rifle	628.0	3 Q	—N/a		101.0	7
	50 m rifle prone	621.9	20	—N/a		Did not advance
	50 m rifle 3 positions	1174	9	—N/a		Did not advance

Women

Qualification Legend: Q = Qualify for the next round; q = Qualify for the bronze medal (shotgun)

Croatian swimmers achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):^[28][29]

Croatia has entered one athlete into the table tennis competition at the Games. Remarkably going to his third Olympics, Andrej Gaćina was automatically selected among the top 22 eligible players in the men's singles based on the ITTF Olympic Rankings.^[30]

Athlete	Event	Preliminary	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Andrej Gaćina	Men's singles	Bye			Drinkhall (GBR) L 2–4	Did not advance

Croatia entered three athletes into the taekwondo competition at the Olympics. Twin sisters and 2012 Olympians Lucija and Ana Zaninović qualified automatically and respectively for the women's flyweight (49 kg) and featherweight (57 kg) category by finishing in the top 6 WTF Olympic rankings.^[31][32] Filip Grgić secured the third spot on the Croatian team by virtue of his top two finish in the men's lightweight category (68 kg) at the 2016 European Qualification Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey.^[33]

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Filip Grgić	Men's −68 kg	González (ESP) L 3–4	Did not advance
Lucija Zaninović	Women's −49 kg	Yesbergenova (KAZ) W 18–7	Aziez (FRA) 0L 3–4	Did not advance
Ana Zaninović	Women's −57 kg	Alizadeh (IRI) L 6–7	Did not advance

Croatia has entered four tennis players into the Olympic tournament. London 2012 Olympian Marin Čilić (world no. 13) and Borna Ćorić (world no. 48) qualified directly for the men's singles as two of the top 56 eligible players in the ATP World Rankings as of 6 June 2016.^[34]

Having been directly entered to the singles, Čilić also opted to play with his partner Marin Draganja in the men's doubles. Following the withdrawal of several players, Ana Konjuh (world no. 76) received an entry on 15 July 2016.^[35]

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Marin Čilić	Men's singles	Dimitrov (BUL) W 6–1, 6–4	Albot (MDA) W 6–3, 6–4	Monfils (FRA) L 7–6(8–6), 3–6, 4–6	Did not advance
Borna Ćorić		Simon (FRA) L 4–6, 6–7(1–7)	Did not advance
Marin Čilić Marin Draganja	Men's doubles	—N/a	Djokovic / Zimonjić (SRB) L 2–6, 2–6	Did not advance
Ana Konjuh	Women's singles	Beck (GER) W 7–6(7–5), 6–1	Suárez Navarro (ESP) L 6–7(5–7), 3–6	Did not advance

Summary

Team	Event	Group stage						Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Croatia men's	Men's tournament	United States W 7–5	Montenegro W 8–7	Spain L 4–9	Italy W 10–7	France L 8–9	2	Brazil W 10–6	Montenegro W 12–8	Serbia L 7–11

Croatia men's water polo team qualified for the Olympics, after reaching the final in the men's tournament at the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia.^[36]

Team roster

The following is the Croatian roster in the men's water polo tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics.^[37]

Head coach: Ivica Tucak

№	Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Date of birth	2016 club
1	Josip Pavić (c)	GK	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	90 kg (198 lb)	15 January 1982	Olympiacos
2	Damir Burić	CB	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)	115 kg (254 lb)	2 December 1980	Primorje Rijeka
3	Antonio Petković	D	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	90 kg (198 lb)	11 January 1986	Sport Management
4	Luka Lončar	CF	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	106 kg (234 lb)	26 June 1987	HAVK Mladost
5	Maro Joković	D	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	1 October 1987	Jug Dubrovnik
6	Luka Bukić	D	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	90 kg (198 lb)	30 April 1994	HAVK Mladost
7	Xavier García	CF	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	92 kg (203 lb)	5 January 1984	Primorje Rijeka
8	Andro Bušlje	CB	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	115 kg (254 lb)	4 January 1986	Posillipo
9	Sandro Sukno	CF	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	30 June 1990	Pro Recco
10	Ivan Krapić	CF	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	103 kg (227 lb)	14 February 1989	Primorje Rijeka
11	Anđelo Šetka	D	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	87 kg (192 lb)	14 September 1985	Primorje Rijeka
12	Marko Macan	CB	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	109 kg (240 lb)	26 April 1993	Jug Dubrovnik
13	Marko Bijač	GK	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	12 January 1991	Jug Dubrovnik

Group play

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	5	3	1	1	46	35	+11	7	Quarter-finals
2	Croatia	5	3	0	2	37	37	0	6
3	Italy	5	3	0	2	40	41	−1	6
4	Montenegro	5	2	1	2	36	32	+4	5
5	United States	5	2	0	3	35	35	0	4
6	France	5	1	0	4	28	42	−14	2

6 August 2016 10:20	Report	United States	5–7	Croatia	Maria Lenk Aquatic Center, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Daniel Flahive (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 1–1, 1–2, 1–2
		Azevedo 2	Goals	Joković, Šetka 2

8 August 2016 20:50	Report	Croatia	8–7	Montenegro	Maria Lenk Aquatic Center, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Daniel Flahive (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 2–1, 1–2, 3–2
		three players 2	Goals	Brguljan, Janović 2

10 August 2016 20:50	Report	Spain	9–4	Croatia	Maria Lenk Aquatic Center, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Radosław Koryzna (POL)
		Score by quarters: 2–0, 2–1, 1–2, 4–1
		Echenique 4	Goals	four players 1

12 August 2016 10:20	Report	Croatia	10–7	Italy	Maria Lenk Aquatic Center, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Mark Koganov (AZE), Daniel Flahive (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 1–1, 4–3, 3–2, 2–1
		Sukno 5	Goals	Gallo 2

14 August 2016 16:50	Report	France	9–8	Croatia	Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Ni Shi Wei (CHN), Hatem Gaber (EGY)
		Score by quarters: 3–2, 3–3, 2–1, 1–2
		Marzouki 3	Goals	Sukno 3

Quarterfinal

16 August 2016 15:10	Report	Brazil	6–10	Croatia	Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Benjamin Mercier (FRA)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 1–4, 3–1, 0–2
		Gomes 3	Goals	García, Joković 3

Semifinal

18 August 2016 12:20	Report	Montenegro	8–12	Croatia	Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Joseph Peila (USA)
		Score by quarters: 3–4, 2–3, 1–1, 2–4
		Brguljan, Ivović 3	Goals	Bušlje 4

Gold medal match

20 August 2016 17:50	Report	Croatia	7–11	Serbia	Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Péter Molnár (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 1–3, 2–3, 2–2
		Sukno 3	Goals	Mandić 4

For the first time since 2004, Croatia has received an unused quota place from IWF to send a male weightlifter to the Olympics, as a response to the complete ban of the Russian weightlifting team from the Games due to "multiple positive" cases of doping.^[38]