Great international athletics stars sometimes came to the Hanžeković Memorial because of their friendship with Croatian athletes. This is why 1500m Olympic Champion, world record holder and three-time World Champion Nouredinne Morceli ran in Zagreb in 1997 and 1998. As he said himself, he came to help his friend Branko Zorko achieve as good a result as possible.
In 1997, Morceli won the 1500m in 3:34.39 and ran a world-leading time of 3:50.48 over a mile a year later, pacing Zorko to set the Croatian record (3:55.36).
We remember that the Algerian star also promoted the Meeting by running around Zrinjevac Park in Zagreb’s centre, while anybody who wanted could join him.