Serbia at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Serbia competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's fourth appearance at the Summer Olympics as an independent country. The Olympic Committee of Serbia confirmed a roster of 103 athletes, 58 men and 45 women, to compete across 14 sports at the Games.

Serbia at the 2016 Summer Olympics
IOC code	SRB
NOC	Olympic Committee of Serbia
Website	www.oks.org.rs (in Serbian)
in Rio de Janeiro
Competitors	103 in 14 sports
Flag bearers	Ivana Anđušić Maksimović (opening) Tijana Bogdanović (closing)
Medals Ranked 32nd	Gold 2 Silver 4 Bronze 2 Total 8
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1912 1920–2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
Yugoslavia (1920–1992 W)  Independent Olympic Participants (1992 S)  Serbia and Montenegro (1996–2006)

Serbia left Rio de Janeiro with a total of 8 medals (2 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze), achieving the nation's most successful feat in Summer Olympic history since the break-up of Yugoslavia, and also doubling its previous medal tally from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. 54 Serbian athletes (about 52 percent of the whole team) contributed to the medal count, with the majority of those coming in the signature team sports (men's water polo, men's and women's basketball, and women's volleyball).

Five Serbian athletes collected medals in individual sports. Among them were Greco-Roman wrestler Davor Štefanek, the first Serbian to win an Olympic gold in the sport after 32 years; long jumper Ivana Španović, the nation's first track and field athlete to stand on the Olympic podium in six decades; taekwondo fighter Tijana Bogdanović, who captured a silver in the women's flyweight category (49 kg); and kayak tandem Marko Tomićević and Milenko Zorić, who were runners-up in the long-distance double (men's K-2 1000 m).

Medalists

Further information: 2016 Summer Olympics medal table and List of 2016 Summer Olympics medal winners

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Davor Štefanek	Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman 66 kg	16 August
Gold	Serbia men's national water polo team Gojko Pijetlović Dušan Mandić Živko Gocić Sava Ranđelović Miloš Ćuk Duško Pijetlović Slobodan Nikić Milan Aleksić Nikola Jakšić Filip Filipović Andrija Prlainović Stefan Mitrović Branislav Mitrović	Water polo	Men's tournament	20 August
Silver	Tijana Bogdanović	Taekwondo	Women's 49 kg	17 August
Silver	Marko Tomićević Milenko Zorić	Canoeing	Men's K-2 1000 metres	18 August
Silver	Serbia women's national volleyball team Bianka Buša Jovana Brakočević Bojana Živković Tijana Malešević Brankica Mihajlović Maja Ognjenović Stefana Veljković Jelena Nikolić Jovana Stevanović Milena Rašić Silvija Popović Tijana Bošković	Volleyball	Women's tournament	20 August
Silver	Serbia men's national basketball team Miloš Teodosić Marko Simonović Bogdan Bogdanović Stefan Marković Nikola Kalinić Nemanja Nedović Stefan Birčević Miroslav Raduljica Nikola Jokić Vladimir Štimac Stefan Jović Milan Mačvan	Basketball	Men's tournament	21 August
Bronze	Ivana Španović	Athletics	Women's long jump	17 August
Bronze	Serbia women's national basketball team Tamara Radočaj Sonja Petrović Saša Čađo Sara Krnjić Nevena Jovanović Jelena Milovanović Dajana Butulija Aleksandra Crvendakić Dragana Stanković Milica Dabović Ana Dabović Danielle Page	Basketball	Women's tournament	20 August

Medals by sport
Sport				Total
Water polo	1	0	0	1
Wrestling	1	0	0	1
Basketball	0	1	1	2
Canoeing	0	1	0	1
Taekwondo	0	1	0	1
Volleyball	0	1	0	1
Athletics	0	0	1	1
Total	2	4	2	8

Medals by day
Day				Total
16 August	1	0	0	1
17 August	0	1	1	2
18 August	0	1	0	1
20 August	1	1	1	3
21 August	0	1	0	1
Total	2	4	2	8

Competitors

The Olympic Committee of Serbia fielded a team of 103 athletes, 58 men and 45 women, across fourteen sports at the Games. It was the nation's second-largest delegation sent to the Olympics, falling short of the record for the most number of athletes (116) achieved in London four years earlier by nearly 12 percent. Serbia qualified teams in men's water polo and women's volleyball, as well as both the men's and women's basketball for the first time in its Olympic history.

After the Rio Olympics, Serbia men's national water polo team held Olympic Games, World Championship, European Championship, World Cup and World League titles simultaneously

Traditional collective sports accounted for nearly half of the nation's roster, amassing a combined total of 49 athletes. By individual-based sport, however, track and field constituted the largest percentage of athletes on the Serbian team, with 12 entries. There was a single competitor each in road cycling, mountain biking, judo, and table tennis.

Highlighting the list of Serbian athletes were Beijing 2008 bronze medalist Novak Djokovic, who entered the Games as the world's top-ranked tennis player in the men's singles, and taekwondo fighter Milica Mandić, who became the country's first ever Olympic champion in London four years earlier. Rifle shooting legend Stevan Pletikosić, who officially made his sixth Olympic appearance, topped the nation's roster lineup as the oldest and most experienced competitor (aged 43). Meanwhile, Pletikosic's female counterpart Ivana Anđušić Maksimović, who followed her father Goran's sporting legacy to win a silver medal in the small-bore rifle at London 2012, acted as the flag bearer for the Serbian team in the opening ceremony.

Other notable athletes on the Serbian roster included long jumper and European outdoor champion Ivana Španović, pistol shooters Zorana Arunović (European Games gold medalist) and Andrea Arsović (European champion and world's top-ranked), freestyle swimmer and London 2012 finalist Velimir Stjepanović, water polo team captain Živko Gocić, and basketballers Miloš Teodosić (team captain and EuroLeague champion), Nikola Jokić (who currently played for NBA's Denver Nuggets) and Ana Dabović (WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks and EuroBasket MVP).

The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games:

Sport	Men	Women	Total
Athletics	7	5	12
Basketball	12	12	24
Canoeing	6	4	10
Cycling	1	1	2
Judo	1	0	1
Rowing	4	0	4
Shooting	5	4	9
Swimming	2	2	4
Table tennis	1	0	1
Taekwondo	0	2	2
Tennis	3	3	6
Volleyball	0	12	12
Water polo	13	0	13
Wrestling	3	0	3
Total	58	45	103

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Ivana Španović won first Olympic medal in athletics for Serbia

Serbian athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):

Key

• Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
• Q = Qualified for the next round
• q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
• NR = National record
• N/A = Round not applicable for the event
• Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

Track & road events

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Milan Ristić	110 m hurdles	13.66	6	Did not advance
Anđelko Rističević	Marathon	—				2:30:17	119
Nenad Filipović	50 km walk	—				4:25:41	46
Predrag Filipović		—				4:39:48	49
Vladimir Savanović		—				4:15:53	42

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Tamara Salaški	400 m	52.70	3	Did not advance
Amela Terzić	800 m	2:00.99	2 Q	2:03.81	7	Did not advance
	1500 m	4:15.17	10	Did not advance
Olivera Jevtić	Marathon	—				DNF

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Asmir Kolašinac	Men's shot put	20.16	15	Did not advance
Ivana Španović	Women's long jump	6.87	1 Q	7.08 NR
Dragana Tomašević	Women's discus throw	57.67	19	Did not advance

Combined events – Men's decathlon

Athlete	Event	100 m	LJ	SP	HJ	400 m	110H	DT	PV	JT	1500 m	Final	Rank
Mihail Dudaš	Result	10.83	7.29	14.23	2.04	49.13	14.65	43.27	4.60	DNS	—	DNF
	Points	899	883	742	840	855	892	731	790	—	—

Basketball

Main article: Basketball at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Men's tournament

Nikola Jokić with Kevin Durant in the group stage game United States

Main articles: 2016 Serbia men's Olympic basketball team and Basketball at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

Serbia men's basketball team qualified for the Olympics by securing its lone outright berth and winning the final match over Puerto Rico at the Belgrade leg of the 2016 FIBA World Qualifying Tournament, signifying the nation's debut in the sport since it gained independence from Montenegro in 2006.

Team roster

Group play

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Quarterfinal

Semifinal

Gold medal match

Women's tournament

Main article: Basketball at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The Serbian women's basketball team qualified for the Olympics by winning the EuroBasket Women 2015 in Hungary.

Team roster

Group play

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Quarterfinal

Semifinal

Bronze medal match

Canoeing

Main article: Canoeing at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Sprint

Marko Tomićević and Milenko Zorić won silver medal in the men's K-2 1000 m event.

Serbian canoeists have qualified one boat in each of the following events through the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships.

Men

Athlete	Event	Heats		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Marko Novaković	K-1 200 m	34.938	3 Q	34.778	5 FB	37.415	13
Dejan Pajić	K-1 1000 m	3:36.884	4 Q	3:48.158	8 FB	3:40.502	15
Nebojša Grujić Marko Novaković	K-2 200 m	31.776	2 Q	32.513	3 FA	32.656	6
Marko Tomićević Milenko Zorić	K-2 1000 m	3:15.298	1 FA	Bye		3:10.969
Marko Tomićević Milenko Zorić Dejan Pajić Vladimir Torubarov	K-4 1000 m	3:05.272	6 Q	2:59.636	3 FA	3:10.241	8

Serbian team during the women's K-4 500 metres event.

Women

Athlete	Event	Heats		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Olivera Moldovan	K-1 200 m	43.339	5 Q	42.123	7	Did not advance
Dalma Ružičić-Benedek	K-1 500 m	1:54.048	5 Q	1:57.294	3 FA	1:55.095	7
Nikolina Moldovan Milica Starović	K-2 500 m	1:46.410	5 Q	1:46.008	6 FB	1:48.146	10
Nikolina Moldovan Olivera Moldovan Dalma Ružičić-Benedek Milica Starović	K-4 500 m	1:39.316	7 Q	1:38.398	5 FB	1:42.818	14

Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Road

Serbia has qualified one rider in the men's Olympic road race by virtue of his top 200 individual ranking in the 2015 UCI Europe Tour.

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
Ivan Stević	Men's road race	Did not finish

Mountain biking

Serbia has qualified one mountain biker for the women's Olympic cross-country race, as a result of her nation's seventeenth-place finish in the UCI Olympic Ranking List of 25 May 2016.

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
Jovana Crnogorac	Women's cross-country	LAP (2 laps)	27

Judo

Main article: Judo at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Serbia has qualified one judoka for the men's middleweight category (90 kg) at the Games. Aleksander Kukolj was directly ranked among the top 22 eligible judokas for men in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016.

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Aleksandar Kukolj	Men's −90 kg	Bye	Žgank (SLO) W 100–000	Baker (JPN) L 000–100	Did not advance

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Serbia has qualified two boats for each of the following rowing classes into the Olympic regatta. One rowing crew had confirmed Olympic place for their boat in the men's pair at the 2015 FISA World Championships in Lac d'Aiguebelette, France, while the men's double sculls rowers had added one more boat to the Serbian roster as a result of their top two finish at the 2016 European & Final Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Nenad Beđik Miloš Vasić	Men's pair	DNF		6:34.52	2 SA/B	6:31.00	5 FB	7:04.71	10
Marko Marjanović Andrija Šljukić	Men's double sculls	7:07.29	4 R	6:20.62	3 SA/B	6:27.66	5 FB	7:03.13	10

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Serbian shooters have achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2014 ISSF World Shooting Championships, the 2015 ISSF World Cup series, and European Championships or Games, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) by 31 March 2016.

The entire shooting squad was named to the Serbian roster for the Games on 6 July 2016, with rifle specialist Stevan Pletikosić becoming the first male shooter to compete at his sixth Olympics. Notable absence in the roster was pistol legend Jasna Šekarić, who bid to establish a historic milestone as one of the first female athletes, alongside Georgian shooter Nino Salukvadze to appear in eight editions of the Games.

Men

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Dimitrije Grgić	10 m air pistol	579	9	Did not advance
	50 m pistol	552	16	Did not advance
Damir Mikec	10 m air pistol	575	25	Did not advance
	50 m pistol	551	18	Did not advance
Stevan Pletikosić	50 m rifle prone	621.6	21	Did not advance
	50 m rifle 3 positions	1168	25	Did not advance
Milenko Sebić	10 m air rifle	620.0	33	Did not advance
	50 m rifle prone	620.4	34	Did not advance
	50 m rifle 3 positions	1172	11	Did not advance
Milutin Stefanović	10 m air rifle	624.3	12	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Semifinal		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Andrea Arsović	10 m air rifle	413.5	26	—		Did not advance
	50 m rifle 3 positions	573	28	—		Did not advance
Zorana Arunović	10 m air pistol	382	11	—		Did not advance
	25 m pistol	576	19	Did not advance
Ivana Anđušić Maksimović	10 m air rifle	415.4	12	—		Did not advance
	50 m rifle 3 positions	578	19	—		Did not advance
Bobana Veličković	10 m air pistol	385	6 Q	—		96.4	7
	25 m pistol	576	21	Did not advance

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Serbian swimmers have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Čaba Silađi	Men's 100 m breaststroke	1:00.76	26	Did not advance
Velimir Stjepanović	Men's 100 m freestyle	49.24	32	Did not advance
	Men's 200 m freestyle	1:46.64	10 Q	1:47.28	13	Did not advance
	Men's 400 m freestyle	3:46.78	14	—		Did not advance
Anja Crevar	Women's 200 m individual medley	2:15.33	27	Did not advance
	Women's 400 m individual medley	4:43.19	20	—		Did not advance
Katarina Simonović	Women's 200 m freestyle	2:00.06	30	Did not advance
	Women's 400 m freestyle	4:15.57	23	—		Did not advance

Table tennis

Main article: Table tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Serbia has entered one athlete into the table tennis competition at the Games. Aleksandar Karakašević granted an invitation from ITTF to compete in the men's singles as one of the next seven highest-ranked eligible players, not yet qualified, on the Olympic Ranking List.

Athlete	Event	Preliminary	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Aleksandar Karakašević	Men's singles	Yan (AUS) W 4–2	Drinkhall (GBR) L 1–4	Did not advance

Taekwondo

Main article: Taekwondo at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Tijana Bogdanović (left) with Women's −49 kg medalist

Serbia entered two athletes into the taekwondo competition at the Olympics. Reigning Olympic champion Milica Mandić qualified automatically for the women's heavyweight category (+67 kg) by finishing in the top 6 WTF Olympic rankings. 2015 European Games silver medalist Tijana Bogdanović secured the remaining spot on the Serbian team by virtue of her top two finish in the women's flyweight category (49 kg) at the 2016 European Qualification Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey.

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Tijana Bogdanović	Women's −49 kg	Abakarova (AZE) W 3–2	Wu Jy (CHN) W 17–7	Manjarrez (MEX) W 10–0	Bye	Kim S-h (KOR) L 6–7
Milica Mandić	Women's +67 kg	Skaar (NOR) W 8–2	Walkden (GBR) L 0–5	Did not advance

Tennis

Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjić in the second round of Men's doubles.

Main article: Tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Serbia has entered six tennis players (three men and three women) into the Olympic tournament. Beijing 2008 bronze medalist and world no. 1 seed Novak Djokovic and London 2012 Olympian Viktor Troicki (world no. 21) qualified directly for the men's singles as three of the top 56 eligible players in the ATP World Rankings, while Ana Ivanovic (world no. 25) and three-time Olympian Jelena Janković (world no. 24) did so for the women's singles based on their WTA World Rankings as of 6 June 2016.

Having been directly entered to the singles, Djokovic and Janković also opted to play with their partners Nenad Zimonjić and Aleksandra Krunić, respectively, in the men's and women's doubles.

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Novak Djokovic	Men's singles	del Potro (ARG) L 6–7(4–7), 6–7(2–7)	Did not advance
Viktor Troicki		A Murray (GBR) L 3–6, 2–6	Did not advance
Novak Djokovic Nenad Zimonjić	Men's doubles	—	Čilić / Draganja (CRO) W 6–2, 6–2	Melo / Soares (BRA) L 4–6, 4–6	Did not advance
Ana Ivanovic	Women's singles	Suárez Navarro (ESP) L 6–2, 1–6, 2–6	Did not advance
Jelena Janković		Withdrew on 7 August due to pectoralis injury
Aleksandra Krunić		Mladenovic (FRA) L 1–6, 4–6	Did not advance
Jelena Janković Aleksandra Krunić	Women's doubles	—	Konta / Watson (GBR) L 2–6, 1–6	Did not advance

Volleyball

The group stage game against China

Main article: Volleyball at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Indoor

Women's tournament

Main article: Volleyball at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The Serbian women's volleyball team qualified for the Olympics by reaching the top two towards the final match of the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup in Japan.

Team roster

Group play

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Quarterfinal

Semifinal

Gold medal match

Water polo

Main article: Water polo at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Serbia men's national water polo team celebrates after the gold medal match

Summary

Key:

• FT – After full time.
• P – Match decided by penalty-shootout.

Team	Event	Group Stage						Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Serbia men's	Men's tournament	Hungary D 13–13	Greece D 9–9	Brazil L 5–6	Australia W 10–8	Japan W 12–8	4	Spain W 10–7	Italy W 10–8	Croatia W 11–7

Men's tournament

Main article: Water polo at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

The Serbian men's water polo team qualified for the Olympics by winning the 2015 FINA World League Super Final in Italy.

Team roster

Group play

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Quarterfinal

Semifinal

Gold medal match

Wrestling

Main article: Wrestling at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Kristijan Fris in the first round of the men's Greco-Roman 59 kg.

Serbia has qualified three wrestlers for each the following weight classes into the Olympic competition. One of them finished among the top six to secure an Olympic spot in the men's Greco-Roman 66 kg at the 2015 World Championships, while two more Olympic places were awarded to Serbian wrestlers, who progressed to the top two finals at the 2016 European Qualification Tournament.

Key:

• VT – Victory by Fall.
• PP – Decision by Points – the loser with technical points.
• PO – Decision by Points – the loser without technical points.
• ST – Decision by points – the loser without technical points and a margin of victory of at least 8 (Greco-Roman) or 10 (freestyle) points.

Men's Greco-Roman

Athlete	Event	Qualification	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Kristijan Fris	−59 kg	Bye	Tasmuradov (UZB) L 1–3 PP	Did not advance					13
Davor Štefanek	−66 kg	Bye	Inoue (JPN) W 4–0 ST	Stäbler (GER) W 3–1 PP	Bolkvadze (GEO) W 5–0 VT	Bye		Arutyunyan (ARM) W 3–1 PP
Viktor Nemeš	−75 kg	Bye	Turdiev (UZB) W 3–1 PP	Madsen (DEN) L 0–3 PO	Did not advance	Bye	Abdevali (IRI) L 1–3 PP	Did not advance	8

Reaction to Kosovo's participation

Because of Albanian boycotts after the breakup of Yugoslavia, only Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija participated as part of Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia at the Olympics. On 17 February 2008 Kosovo's Parliament declared independence from Serbia, but Serbia doesn't recognize it and considers it its southern province. On 9 December 2014 the International Olympic Committee recognized the Olympic Committee of Kosovo despite it not being a member or observer state of the United Nations, and therefore Kosovo is a participant at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In reaction to the decision of the International Olympic Committee to accept Kosovo as a full member, Vlade Divac said that the Serbian Olympic Committee did all they could while foreign minister Ivica Dačić and minister of sports Vanja Udovičić expressed disapproval, with Divac adding there would be no boycott of the games. Prior to the Rio 2016 opening ceremony, Udovičić advised Serbian athletes to withdraw themselves from any medal ceremonies if they have to share the podium with athletes from Kosovo. Some athletes from Kosovo, such as volleyball player Milena Rašić and basketball player Marko Simonović, participated as part of the Serbian team and both of them won medals.

See also

• Serbia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

External links

• Olympic Committee of Serbia
• Serbia at the 2016 Summer Olympics at SR/Olympics (archived)