Zagreb and the Sports park Mladost will this year also, on the 1st September accommodate many top athletes, Olympic medal winners, world champions and record breakers. The Zagreb athletic meeting, former Memorial to Boris Hanžeković, from this year is a part of the IAAF World Challenge series. This is a meeting with a 60 year tradition and is highly rated in the world of athletics.
This year's meeting has gotten the honor of hosting the final competition of the male Hammer Challenge, which means the world's best hammer throwers will come together in Zagreb.
This athlete story was born more than half a century ago with the duel of Zagreb's strongest clubs – Mladost and Dinamo, and in 1958. with the participation of top althletes the meeting became international. The 110m Memorial hurdle race, that has been organized as part of the meeting since the very beginning, carries the name of a pre war athlete and representative from Zagreb, Boris Hanžeković, who became famous by beating the well known Greek Hristos Mantikas, at Balkanijada in 1938. Already in the 1960's and 1970's the meeting was attended by respected athletes but a real influx of world stars to Zagreb began in 1997. and has been increasing with every new meeting. In 1998. the popular «Hanžek», as this competition is usually called, climbed to first place on the meeting chart of the EAA (European Athletic Association), and in 1999. was listed on a higher rank – under meetings of the IAAF.
Proof that the Zagreb meeting is highly respected in the world's athlete family is that the IAAF included «Hanžek» among 14 cities which have kept the Grand Prix status in the new system of the World Athletics Tour. Only the Golden league is above it (6 meetings) and the Super Grand Prix (5).
The trademark of the meeting is Croatian athlete, the world champion in high jumping, Blanka Vlašić.
The night atmosphere, fantastic results and excellent organisation, give this top sporting event its charm.
The Tourist Board of Zagreb
www.zagreb-touristinfo.hr
Zagreb Grand Prix
www.zagrebhanzek.com