Biljana Golić facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Biba Golić |
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| Full name | Biljana Golić | |||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  Serbia |
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| Born | November 9, 1977 Senta, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia |
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| Playing style | Right-handed, all round player | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Biljana "Biba" Golić (born on November 9, 1977) is a talented Serbian table tennis player. She is known for her exciting playing style and for helping to make table tennis more popular around the world.
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Early Table Tennis Career
Biba Golić started playing table tennis when she was nine years old. By age 12, she was already a member of the Serbian National Cadet team. She continued to play for the senior national team in Serbia for ten years.
During this time, Biba became a two-time Yugoslavian Singles Champion. In September 2001, she won a gold medal at the Mediterranean Games in Women's Doubles with her partner, Gordana Plavšić. The next month, in October 2001, she became a Balkan Champion in several categories: Women's Teams, Women's Singles, and Mixed Doubles (with Bojan Milošević). She also finished as a runner-up in Women's Doubles with Gordana Plavšić.
In 2002, Biba played in the Bundes League in Germany for one year. She is also a member of the Killerspin Krew, which is a group of athletes sponsored by the table tennis company Killerspin.
College Table Tennis
Biba Golić received an athletic scholarship to attend Texas Wesleyan University. She studied there for 18 months. While at Texas Wesleyan, Biba achieved great success in college table tennis.
She became the National Collegiate Champion in singles, doubles, mixed doubles, and team events. Her team also recognized her as their Most Valuable Player. Later, she transferred to the Illinois Institute of Technology. There, she was ranked as the No. 2 women's player in the NCAA.
Spreading the Sport
After joining the "Killerspin Krew," Biba Golić continued to play table tennis competitively. She also became a spokesperson for the sport. Her goal was to help make table tennis more popular and well-known.
Biba has often been called the "Anna Kournikova of table tennis." In 2005, she was recognized by ESPN and appeared in their original The Body Issue. She regularly takes part in special events where she performs exhibition matches. These are fun, non-competitive games that show off her skills.
She has also appeared on many television news and profile shows. Biba has even been featured in Hollywood movies.
Film and TV Appearances
Some of her appearances include:
- Balls of Fury
- Ping Pong Playa
- Welcome to the Parker
- Spike TV - Guys Choice award winner
- ESPN commercial "Follow Your Sports" [1]
- Mike and Mike in the Morning
Biba has also been featured in popular magazines like Time and Rolling Stone. A character named Oksana Svedlovigoba in the comic strip Penny Arcade was even based on her.
Major Achievements
Biba Golić has achieved many impressive results throughout her table tennis career:
- Portland Open Champion
- California Open Champion
- Ohio Open Champion
- US National Collegiate No. 2 ranking
- US National Collegiate Champion – Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles & Team (2003)
- Yugoslavian Champion - Singles (twice)
- Yugoslavian Champion - Team (twice)
- Yugoslavian Champion - Mixed Doubles (twice)
- Balkan Champion - Mixed Doubles
- Balkan Champion - Woman's Singles
- Second Place Balkan - Woman's Doubles
- Mediterranean Champion - Woman's Doubles
- Third place - Bulgarian Open - Singles
- Third place - European Junior Championships
- First place - Yugoslavian TOP-12
- Mediterranean Champion - Woman's Doubles
