Vinko Pokrajčić

Vinko Pokrajčić (born 14 July 1958) is a Bosnian retired middle-distance runner who competed internationally for Yugoslavia. He was the runner-up in the men's 1500 meters at the 1981 Summer Universiade.

Vinko Pokrajčić
Personal information
NationalityYugoslav
Croatian
Born(1958-07-14)July 14, 1958
Mrkodol, Tomislavgrad, Yugoslavia
Sport
SportTrack
Event(s)1500 meters, mile
ClubAK Sarajevo
Coached byLazar Ćirović
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking5th junior (1977)[1]
Personal best(s)1500m: 3:39.83[2]
Mile: 3:58.41[2]
Medal record
Representing  Yugoslavia
Men's athletics
Universiade
1981 Bucharest 1500 m

Early life

Pokrajčić was one of seven children in his family.[1] He dropped out of school in eighth grade, intending to move to Germany as a guest worker.[1] However, after a time trial with coach Leo Lang, his family introduced him to coach Lazar Ćirović of AK Sarajevo. Pokrajčić's first race was Yugoslavia's state 3000 meters for the "young juniors" age group. Before the race, Ćirović told him, "son, you run with them as long as you can, when you can't, just stop."[1] With only 300 meters to go, Ćirović told him "go now if you can", and Pokrajčić won the race.[1] He subsequently joined AK Sarajevo, and lived in Sarajevo until the Bosnian War began.[1]

Running career

In 1977, he was called up to Yugoslavia's national junior cross country team for a race in Shumen, Bulgaria. He won the race even though someone stepped on one of his racing spikes early in the race, causing him to run the rest of the race missing one shoe.[1] Two years later, he ran the men's 1500 meters at the 1979 European Indoor Championships, finishing second to last in his heat in a time of 3:48.2.[3]

At the 1981 Summer Universiade, he ran a personal best of 3:39.83 in the men's 1500 meters, finishing second overall behind Saïd Aouita. He was only the third person from Yugoslavia to have ever run under 3:40 in the 1500 meters, after Boško Božinović and Dragan Zdravković.[1]

References
  1. Ersan Bijedić (September 17, 2018). "VINKO POKRAJČIĆ: Sramota je da moji rekordi nisu oboreni skoro 40 godina" (in Bosnian). Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  2. IAAF. "Vinko POKRAJČIĆ - Athlete Profile".
  3. "Vorläufe - 1500 Meter - Männer" (in German). February 24, 1979.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.