The monograph titled 70th Zagreb Meeting – Hanžeković Memorial was presented in Zagreb. It is a chronicle of Croatia’s oldest sporting event and one of the world’s best athletics meetings.
The monograph chronologically follows the growth of the Boris Hanžeković Memorial from a duel between the athletics clubs of Dinamo and Mladost to this day, when the meeting is part of the Continental Tour Gold series, featuring the greatest stories from the meeting’s history.
“This publication, which I am extremely proud of, is an overview of all 70 years of the meeting. With it, we wanted to pay tribute to all those who are with us, as well as to those who are not with us any more. Their contribution is especially highlighted in the book. I am pleased to be able to announce the next Boris Hanžeković Memorial on 14 September and I trust that it will again be an unavoidable stop for the world’s best athletes and all sports fans”, said Ana Hanžeković Krznarić, President of the Dinamo-Zrinjevac Athletics Club, which published the book and which organizes the Memorial.
Ivana Brkljačić was the Meeting Director from 2009 to 2020.
“Our meeting is special compared to all others in the world because of the human factor and good organization, recognized by athletes, as well. It is my honour to have been part of this magnificent sporting event for 20 years, both as an athlete and the Meeting Director. In this monograph, we thanked all those who created the Memorial and made it what it is today”, said Brkljačić, who was replaced by Robert Šola as the new Meeting Director.
“A month ago, I talked to legendary runner Dragan Zdravković, who told me that there was no other place in former Yugoslavia where athletes had been as welcome, loved and appreciated as in Zagreb. This exactly is the greatest secret of this meeting’s success and a guarantee that it will be outstanding in the following years, as well”, Šola said, while President of the Croatian Athletics Federation Ivan Veštić added:
“I can safely say that Croatian athletics would be much poorer without the Hanžeković Memorial.”
Executive Editor of the monograph Marin Šarec said why this book was different from some earlier publishing projects related to the meeting:
“Until now, we mostly relied on the memory of participants, but memory often fades and is not very reliable. This is why now we dug into the archives, took all issues of Narodni sport and Sportske novosti sports newspapers, studied all articles about the Memorial since 1951 and extracted the most important information from them. This book is a publishing product, after which you will no longer need Google, because it contains all historical data about the Boris Hanžeković Memorial.”
The new Mayor of Zagreb Tomislav Tomašević also attended the promotion.
“I am immensely pleased that my first ceremonial address as the new mayor is dedicated to sport, not any sport, but the queen of sports, and not any sporting event, but the oldest one in Croatia. We are proud to host such an event that attracts an increasing number of the world’s top athletes and of spectators. I am looking forward to leafing through this monograph and to the next Hanžeković Memorial. The City of Zagreb will continue being a partner to such sporting events and supporting the development of sport”, Mayor Tomašević said.
Besides the promotion of the monograph, acknowledgements were presented to institutions and individuals who had contributed to the growth and promotion of the meeting during the seven decades.