Ante Kostelić

Ante Kostelić
Personal information
Nickname(s) Gips
Nationality Croatian
Ethnicity Croat
Born 11 August 1938 (age 79)
Zagreb, Croatia
Residence Zagreb, Croatia
Alma mater Faculty of Kinesiology, Zagreb
Occupation alpine skiing coach, handball coach
Years active from 1957
Spouse(s) Marica
Sport
Country Croatia
Sport alpine skiing
handball
swimming
car racing
Position handball circle runner
(pivot, line player) or left winger
Club ski clubs SK „Medveščak“ and SK „Zagreb“,
handball clubs RK "Polet" Zagreb, RK "Mladost" Zagreb, "RK Zagreb", "AS Cannes", "ŽRK Osijek" etc.,
swimming club PK "Mladost" Zagreb, etc.
Now coaching Janica Kostelić, Ivica Kostelić (retired)
Achievements and titles
World finals 1981–82 IHF Women's Cup Winners' Cup winner (as ŽRK Osijek head coach)
6 gold + 1 silver + 1 bronze FIS Alpine World Ski Championships medals and
4 overall FIS Alpine World Cups
(coaching Janica Kostelić and Ivica Kostelić)
Olympic finals 4 gold + 6 silver Olympic medals (coaching Janica Kostelić and Ivica Kostelić)

Ante Kostelić (born 11 August 1938) is a retired Croatian sportsman and coach. He is best known for coaching Croatia skiers who won the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, overall FIS Alpine World Cup and Olympic titles between 2001 and 2014. As head coach of Handball Club ŽRK Osijek he won the 1981–82 IHF Women's Cup Winners' Cup in 1982. He has been honoured with numerous awards including the Croatian Olympic Committee's Matija Ljubek Award[1] (2001), Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport[2] (2003) and the Order of Prince Branimir.

Early life

Born in Zagreb, Ante Kostelić attended Grammar school in his home town and later graduated from the Faculty of Kinesiology. He played handball for several clubs in Croatia (then within Yugoslavia), e.g. RK Polet Zagreb, RK Mladost Zagreb, RK Zagreb, as well as in France (AS Cannes). His player positions were circle runner (pivot, line player) or left winger. As RK Zagreb player, he won the Yugoslav Handball Cup in 1962. He was also active in swimming, skiing and car racing.

Coaching career

During the period between the 1970s and 1990s, Kostelić coached many handball clubs, among which RK Ivanić Ivanić-Grad, RK Medveščak Zagreb, RK Zagreb, RK Partizan Bjelovar, RK Trešnjevka Zagreb, RK Celje, ŽRK Osijek, RK Pelister Bitola and 1. FC Nürnberg Nuremberg. In his coaching career, he first became famous for his triumph at the 1981–82 IHF Women's Cup Winners' Cup as ŽRK Osijek Handball Club head coach. In the Final, ŽRK Osijek superiorly beat SC Spartacus from Budapest 54:38 on aggregate.

At the beginning of the 1990s he became alpine skiing coach, starting with ski clubs SK Medveščak and SK Zagreb. He was known as a very tough and demanding coach and therefore sometimes confronted with other club members or parents of the skiers, who thought he had required to much from his trainees. Then he took over coaching his children Janica and Ivica), who succeeded in achieving world's top results and rankings, becoming world alpine ski world champions as well as World Cup and Olympic winners. Together they were awarded 4 gold and 6 silver Olympic medals.

Honours and awards

Ante Kostelić has been honoured by the Croatian Olympic Committee (English: COC, Croatian: HOO) with Matija Ljubek Award, the highest COC prize, awarded to individuals as a lifetime achievement, in 2001. Two years later he has been honoured with Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport, the highest recognition that Republic of Croatia gives for extraordinary achievements and contributions of remarkable meaning for the development of sport in Croatia. In 2010 he received the Order of Prince Branimir, which is given for excellence in promoting Croatia in international relations. Besides that, Croatian Olympic Committee elected him several times as Croatia's best coach of the year (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Matija Ljubek Award
  2. ↑ Recipients of the Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport in 2003
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