The central sporting event during 2021 was the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Serbian athletes won nine medals – three gold (men’s water polo team, Milica Mandic – taekwondo and Jovana Prekovic – karate), one silver (Damir Mikec – shooting) and five bronze (men’s 3×3 basketball team, women’s volleyball team, Tijana Bogdanovic – taekwondo, Milenko Sebic – shooting and Zurabi Datunashvili – wrestling).
Serbia claimed six medals at the Tokyo Paralympic Games – two gold (both won by shooter Dragan Ristic), three silver (Zdravko Savanovic and Laslo Suranji – shooting, and Zeljko Dimitrijevic – club throw) and one bronze (women’s double Borislava Peric Rankovic/Nada Matic – table tennis).
Let us remind ourselves of the most significant achievements of Serbian athletes this year:
ATHLETICS: Ivana Spanovic – winner of the IAAF Diamond League title in the women’s long jump. National para athletics team – 11 medals at the European Championships. Adriana Vilagos – gold medal at the U20 World Athletics Championships in the women’s javelin throw. The second best young athlete in Europe for 2021, according to the votes of the European Olympic Committees.
3×3 BASKETBALL: Men’s national team – European champions, bronze medal at the Olympics.
BASKETBALL: Women’s national team – European champions. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic – the 2021 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP). Anadolu Efes guard Vasilije Micic – the EuroLeague MVP. Virtus Bologna guard Milos Teodosic – the Eurocup MVP.
WATER POLO: Men’s national team – Olympic champions.
WRESTLING: Zurab Datunashvili – European and world champion, bronze medal at the Olympics. Mate Nemes – European champion.
TAEKWONDO: Milica Mandić – Olympic champion, European silver medalist. Mehdi Khodabakhshi – second at the European championships. Tijana Bogdanović – bronze medal at the Olympics.
BOXING: Vladimir Mironchikov – bronze medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships.
ROWING: Martin Mackovic and Milos Vasic – bronze medal in the men’s pair at the European Championships.
SHOOTING: Damir Mikec – Olympic silver medalist. Milenko Sebic – bronze at the Olympics. Serbian senior team – four medals (three silver and one bronze) at the European Championships.
KARATE: Jovana Prekovic – European, world and Olympic champion! Slobodan Bitevic – European silver medalist.
FOOTBALL: Men’s national team – qualified for the World Cup in Qatar.
TENNIS: Novak Djokovic – Australia Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon winner in the men’s singles. Holder of the new all-time record for weeks at the top of the ATP list.
VOLLEYBALL: Women’s national team – second in Europe and bronze medal at the Olympic Games.
JUDO: Aleksandar Kukolj – world silver medalist.
NINE-PIN BOWLING: Men’s national team – world champions …
Source: srbija.gov.rs, oks.org.rs