Duje Bonačić (10 April 1929 – 24 January 2020) was a Croatian rower who won a gold medal representing Yugoslavia in the coxless four event at the 1952 Summer Olympics.[1]

Duje Bonačić
Bonačić at the 1952 Olympics
Personal information
Born(1929-04-10)10 April 1929
Split, Littoral Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Died24 January 2020(2020-01-24) (aged 90)
Split, Croatia
Sport
SportRowing
ClubHVK Gusar, Split
Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing  Yugoslavia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1952 Helsinki Coxless four

Bonačić was born in Split to a Croatian father and Slovenian mother. He had an elder brother Vojko and a sister Nevenka. He graduated in natural sciences in Zagreb, and took up rowing to build muscles, as he weighed only 56 kg with a height of 183 cm at the time. After retiring from competitions he worked as a professor of geography, meteorology and oceanography at maritime schools and also served as a coach and referee in rowing and sailing.[2]

After the death of Željko Čajkovski on 11 November 2016, he became the oldest Croatian Olympic medal winner.[3] Bonačić died on January 24, 2020, at the age of 90 following a short illness.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Duje Bonačić". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  2. ^ ŽIVLJENJEPISI SLOVENCEV V HRVAŠKEM ŠPORTU. slovenci-zagreb.hr (2014)
  3. ^ "Duje Bonačić najstariji hrvatski osvajač olimpijske medalje". Politika. 12 November 2016. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Preminuo Duje Bonačić, najstariji hrvatski olimpijac i osvajač zlatne olimpijske medalje 1952. u Helsinkiju". tportal.hr. Hrvatski Telekom. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
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