Paovic’s career in the able-bodied side was cut short on 30 January 2009, by a life threatening car accident en route to the airport in Paris following a match. She suffered a severe cervical spinal injury leaving her with limited use of her legs. “What motivated me to come back to table tennis is the love that I have for table tennis and sport in general,” she said. “Many people were there for me on my way to success, but most important was that I believed in myself and that I never gave up.” Sandra was born in the city of Vukovar.
Author: Nenad N. Bach and Darko Žubrinić
Kreso Mikulic bigmustache Croatian carpenter, engineer, Olympic gymnast, alpine skier and winemaker
What do devotion to the Blessed Mother, the fuel pump in the B-1 bomber, and a popular Colerain Township winery have in common? The answer is Kreso Mikulic, age 79, native of the Medjugorje region of Bosnia, patent holder of the B-1 fuel pump and owner and master vintner at Vinoklet Winery. Mikulic, an ethnic Croatian, has imported white and red wines made by Podrumi Andrej in Medjugorje and labeled with a portrait of the Blessed Mother, whom local tradition holds appears there annually since 1981.
Stipe Miocic successfully defending his UFC heavy weight world title vs A. Overeem in Sep 2016 in Cleveland
Stipe Miočić, USA, born in 1982 to Croatian immigrants, is an American mixed martial artist competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) where he is the current UFC World Heavyweight Champion. In Sep 2016 he successfully defended his title in Cleveland in the match with Alistair Overeem, a well known Dutch martial artist and kickboxer who was Strikeforce, Dream and K-1 champion. Preparing for this match, Stipe spent a part of the summer 2016 in Croatia with Mirko Filipović – Crocop. Stipe Miočić is married with Ryan Marie Carney.
Goran Filipec young and charismatic Croatian pianist of pronounced virtuosity
As laureate of several international piano competitions such as Concorso Franz Liszt – Premio Mario Zanfi, Concurso de Parnassos and José Iturbi International Music Competition, Goran performed in Europe, United States, South America and Japan. His Carnegie Hall debut took place in 2006, followed by performances in venues such as Mariinsky Theatre, Auditorium di Milano, Minato Mirai Hall or Philharmonie de Paris, among others. Musician of fiery energy and well defined artistic personality, he reveals a particular leaning towards classical and romantic repertoire and music of pronounced virtuosity.
Sven Maricic a pioneer of 3D printing technology in Croatia
A team of doctors at the Clinical Hospital in the city of Rijeka, Croatia, have recently and successfully attached a 3D printed ear to an elderly patient whose biological ear had to be removed because of skin cancer. The operation was executed as a joint effort between the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Rijeka and the Otorhinolaryngology Clinic at the local hospital and marks yet another successful implantation of a 3D printed prosthetic. The 3D printed ear model was designed by Dr. Sven Maričić and his associates Sanjin Fućak, and Duje Kalajžić and was based off of measurements made of the patient’s original ear.
Yoko Nishii Japanese pianist has six concerts in Croatia in Sep 2016
In September 2016 Yoko Nishii, Japanese pianist and proponent of the music of Dora Pejačević (the first Croatian women composer), arrives to Croatia again with a series of six concerts (Rovinj, Sisak, Vinkovci, Cavtat, Ludbreg, Zaprešić), as well as in Kotor and Budapest. On the photo Yoko Nishii with Vjeko Martinko, her host in Villa Astra in the town of Lovran in which she graduated piano studies in 2000. Yoko is fluent in Croatian language. In the Spring of 2015, Yoko Nishii issued an important double CD in Tokyo, containig complete pianistic works of Dora Pejačević.
Epidaurus Festival in Cavtat celebrates 10 fruitful years of existence in 2016 – congratulations!
Ivana Marija Vidović, distinugished Croatian pianist and poet from Dubrovnik, is the founder of artistic director of the Epidaurus Festival in the town of Cavtat near Dubrovnik. The Epidaurus Festival celebrates 10th anniversary in 2016. It has hosted numerous musicians and artists from Croatia and abroad. In the name of the readers of the CROWN, we express our deep gratitude to Ivana for her perserverence and hard work, and for having established numerous very interesting and fruitful music contacts between Croatia and other countries.
Mother Teresa proclaimed a saint in 2016 and her connections with Croatia
Saint Mother Teresa was deeply connected with Croatian people. Croatian Jesuits stand at the beginning of her spiritual path, and her close collaborator in India was Ante Gabric, SJ, Croatian missionary and a good spirit of Bengal. In 1995, in Kolkata, she obtained an official Croatian passpoirt from the then Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia dr. Drago Stambuk, as an authorized representative of the Republic of Croatia for Humanitarian Aid . Saint Mother Teresa had spiritual speaches in Croatian language in the Zagreb Cathedral on several occasions. The photo on the left is from her Croatian passport. We also provide some anthological photos of Mother Teresa by Zvonimir Atletić, distinguished Croatian photographer.
Ivana Masic exhibiting her works of art in Amsterdam Whitney Gallery NY 26 Aug – 27 Sep 2016
Ivana Masic was born and raised in White Plains, New York. She graduated from Manhattanville College with a Masters in Art and Education & a BFA double major in Business Management and Fine Art. She proudly teaches High School Art at Valhalla High School in NY. Ivana collaborates often with various artists, musicians, producers, directors, writers, educators & healers. Notably, Ivana also acted as art director for the NY based company called The Last Automat Press and designed over 30 book covers.
Ivica Kostelic Summer Ski Camp on the island of Mljet in Croatia
Ivica Kostelić, the greatest Croatian male skier in history, invited a number of his friends, mostly skiers, to spend a part of their summer vacations on the island of Mljet, one of the most beautiful Mediterranean islands. The resulting series of six videos provides a lots of information about this island, as well as about Ivica and his guests. The island of Mljet is the one on which the shipwreck of St. Paul the Apostle occured in the first century AD, described in the Acts of the Apostles (Chps. 27 & 28) of the New Testament in the Bible. On the photo Ivica with his beautiful wife Elin Arnarsdottir from Iceland.
Croatian young students double winners of the 2016 Middle European Mathematical Olympiad (MEMO)
Participating at he the 2016 Middle European Mathematical Olympiad organized in Austria, Croatian team of young mathematicians won both in the individual and team competition. Each competition lasts five hours. The problems are of the “olympic” type, typically divided into four areas: algebra, combinatorics, geometry and number theory. In the individual competition, the students solve one problem from each area. The team competition consists of eight problems, two from each area. Each of the ten participating countries (Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland) has six competitiors, and out of 60 competitors, about half of them are awarded with gold, silver and bronze medals. On the photo Patrik Papac from Dubrovnik, gold medal.
Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic won Croatia's first ever gold medal in Olympic sailing in Rio 2016
Šime Fantela and Igor Marenić are the current European and World champions in sailing. Should it come as a surprise if they won gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rio? Definitely no, but this was Croatia’s first gold in Olympic sailing. This medal, as well as the silver medal by Tonči Stipanović (Laser category), is among others a consequence of the fact that Croatia is not only a Middle-European country, but also a Mediterranean country, situated along the coast which many consider as the most beautiful in the world, interspersed with more than a thosand islands.
Damir Martin Croatian rower winning silver medal of golden glitter at 2016 Olympic Games in men's single sculls
Probably the most dramatic event in rowing at the Olympic Games in Rio was held in the finals of men’s single sculls. Croatian rower Damir Martin finished simulateneously with Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand. However, photo-finish showed that the difference was a portion of a centimeter, so that Damir Martin was decorated with silver medal. It is a huge success of Croatian sports. Both competitors finished with the same result of 6:41:34, i.e. with equal within one hundredth of the second. According to the current FISA rule, this result is then a dead heat, and both competitors should have been decorated with gold medals. However, the Olympic Committee in Rio did not respect the FISA rule.
Sara Kolak of Croatia wins gold in javelin throw at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio
Young Croatian javelin thrower Sara Kolak (21) is probably the greatest surprise of the athelitc part of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, winning her gold medal which nobody has expected. This is the second Croatian gold in athletics, after Sandra Perkovic won her olympic gold in discus throw in Rio. Also, Sara was the youngest girl in the finals. This is one of the greatest achievements in the history of Croatian sports.
Sandra Perković won olympic gold medal in discus throw at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio
Sandra Perković is one of the most dominant figures in contemporary world athletics, in the discipline of discus throw. In Rio de Janeiro she won her second consecutive title of Olympic Champion. She thus became one of only two women in the history of discus throw to have two gold olympic medals. The year 2016 was the most successful for Croatia till now. With 5 gold medals, Croatia won 17th place among 198 countries. Furthermore, it is 7th among 27 countries of European Union.
Sinkovic brothers win gold medals for Croatia in Double Sculls at 2016 Olympics in Rio
Brothers Valent and Martin Sinković won their only missing trophey – Olympic gold in Rio in 2016. They belong to most dominant contemporary figures in Double Sculls in the world: they were the double world champions and the double European champions in this sport, as well as the current European champions. For the last two years, they did not lose any international competition (they won 29 races in a row!). They have an outstanding trainer, Nikola Bralić: in 2015, he was proclaimed the best rowing trainer in the world. On the photo, on the left of Martin is Manuela, his wife.
Croatia – Spain 72 : 70 in basketball match at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio
Dario Šarić’s powerful block at the end of a difficult basketball game agains Spain at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, secured the 72 : 70 win for Croatian team. Among Croatian players, especially successful was Bojan Bogdanović with his 26 points. The Spanish team is considered as one of the major candidates for the highest position at the Olympics, along with the American team. We recall that at the 1992 Olympic Games held in Barcelona, Croatia won the sensational silver medal in basketball.
MEETING G2.2 10-12 October 2016 in Zagreb invitation to Croatia and its diaspora for new business opportunities
The aim is to connect Croatians abroad with people and business opportunities in Croatia via practical online and offline knowledge-sharing, matchmaking and networking forums. The vision is to secure a future where possibilities, opportunities and dreams of doing business with or in the homeland will drive a new era of Croatian economic development, growth and productivity. On the photo Josip Hrgetić, director of the Forum Center in Zagreb and Project director of G2.2 conference to be held at the Forum Centre in Zagreb from 10th to 12th October 2016.
Natasha and Volodimir Balyk distinguished Russian-Ukrainian music duo living in Croatia
Nataša and Volodimir Balyk, better known as Duo Balyk , is a music family of Russian and Ukrainian provenance, both of them excellent musicians playing domra , a sort of mandolin, and bajan , a sort of button accordion, respectively. They live in Croatia since the 1990s, in the town of Lovran, and are performing throughout Croatia, as well as all over Europe. Their repertoire is enormous, ranging from classical pieces to traditional, folk and jazz music. Both educated at the Moscow Conservatory, they are lecturing in Croatia at the Music School of Mate Ronjgov in the town of Krk, as well as in the town of Rab, in respective departments for guitar & mandolin (Nataša), and Accordion (Volodimir).
Yoko Nishii Japanese pianist has a series of concerts throughout Croatia in Sep 2016
Yoko Nishii is known as a leading promoter of the music of Dora Pejačević, after having published the complete pianist works of the first Croatian woman composer in Tokyo in the Spring of 2016. Yoko-san is preparing her new concert tour in Croatia for September 2016, starting in the town of Rovinj on the Sep 8th. Having studied piano in Japan, Yoko-san continued her specialisation in Croatian town of Lovran. She is fluent in Croatian language, and in the past years visited as a pianist numerous Croatian towns. This time, by the courtesy of Mr. Vjeko Martinko, she will also be hosted among others by Hotel Villa Astra in Lovran, where she will meet her numerous friends.