Blanka Vlašić facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Blanka Vlašić

Blanka Vlašić during the 2008 ISTAF Berlin
Personal information
Nationality	Croatian
Born	(1983-11-08) 8 November 1983 (age 41) Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	70 kilograms (154 lb)
Sport
Country	Croatia
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	High jump
Coached by	Joško Vlašić Bojan Marinović
Achievements and titles
World finals	1st (2007 Osaka) 1st (2009 Berlin)
Olympic finals	2nd (2008 Beijing) 3rd (2016 Rio de Janeiro)
Personal best(s)	2.08 m NR (Zagreb 2009) Indoors 2.06 m NR (Arnstadt 2010)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Croatia Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games - 1 1 World Championships 2 2 - World Indoor Championships 2 1 1 European Championships 1 - - European Indoor Championships - - - Total 5 4 2 Olympic Games Silver 2008 Beijing High jump Bronze 2016 Rio de Janeiro High jump World Championships Gold 2007 Osaka High jump Gold 2009 Berlin High jump Silver 2011 Daegu High jump Silver 2015 Beijing High jump World Indoor Championships Gold 2008 Valencia High jump Gold 2010 Doha High jump Silver 2006 Moscow High jump Bronze 2004 Budapest High jump World Athletics Final Gold 2007 Stuttgart High jump Gold 2008 Stuttgart High jump Gold 2009 Thessaloniki High jump European Championships Gold 2010 Barcelona High jump European U23 Championships Gold 2003 Bydgoszcz High jump Mediterranean Games Gold 2001 Tunis High jump World Junior Championships Gold 2000 Santiago High jump Gold 2002 Kingston High jump Representing Europe Continental Cup Gold 2010 Split High jump
Updated on 29 July 2017.

Blanka Vlašić (born November 8, 1983) is a Croatian former athlete. She was a high jumper, which means she specialized in jumping over a high bar. Blanka is one of the best female high jumpers ever. She won two world championships and two Olympic medals. Her best jump was 2.08 meters, which is the third highest jump by a woman in history! She also holds the Croatian national record for high jump.

Blanka's father, Joško Vlašić, was also a famous athlete in Croatia. Blanka started competing at a young age. She went to her first Olympic Games in Sydney when she was only 16. She won the World Junior Championships in Athletics twice, in 2000 and 2002.

In 2004, Blanka broke the Croatian national record. She also won her first senior medal at the World Indoor Championships. She faced some health challenges in 2004 and 2005, but she came back strong. In 2006, she won a silver medal at the World Indoor Championships.

Blanka had an amazing year in 2007. She won the World Championships and became the indoor world champion in 2008. At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, she won a silver medal. She became World Champion for the second time in 2009. Blanka also won important awards like the IAAF World Athlete of the Year in 2010.

Blanka's Early Life and Start in Sports

Blanka Vlašić was born on November 8, 1983, in Split, Croatia. Her family was very sporty! Her mother, Venera, played basketball and was good at cross-country skiing. Her father, Joško Vlašić, was an international athlete. He even held the Croatian record in the decathlon, which is a competition with ten different track and field events.

Blanka often went to the track with her father when he trained. At first, she wanted to be a sprinter. She tried many sports as she grew up. But she found that high jump was perfect for her tall and slim body. Blanka decided to focus on high jump, even though other sports like basketball might have paid more. She loved the excitement of individual sports.

She became a top high jumper very early. By age fifteen, she could jump 1.80 meters. At sixteen, she improved to 1.93 meters.

Blanka's Junior Career Highlights

Blanka started competing internationally when she was very young. She took part in the first World Youth Championships and finished eighth. She also represented Croatia at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Even though she wasn't ready for the senior level at the Olympics, she was excellent at the junior level.

She won the 2000 World Junior Championships by jumping 1.91 meters. Blanka kept getting better and qualified for more big senior events. In 2001, she finished sixth at the World Championships in Edmonton, jumping 1.94 meters. Experts saw her as a future star. She ended that year by winning her first senior gold medal at the 2001 Mediterranean Games.

Her last year as a junior showed even more progress. She set a new indoor best of 1.92 meters in 2002. She was expected to win the 2002 World Juniors. She won by a large amount, jumping a new personal best of 1.96 meters. She even tried to jump the symbolic two-meter height. She didn't make it, but she was still happy. She said, "Today what matters is the gold. I am very happy I retained my world junior title." By the end of that year, she was ranked among the top ten high jumpers in the world.

Becoming a Top High Jumper

The year 2003 started well for Blanka. She set a new personal best of 1.98 meters in Linz. Ten days later, she finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships. This was her best finish yet at a major world event.

In June and July, she kept improving. She jumped 1.98 meters again, then 1.99 meters to win her first IAAF Golden League event. Just days later, she jumped two meters for the first time in her home country at the IAAF Grand Prix Zagreb. Even though another athlete won, Blanka's jump over the two-meter mark was the highlight.

Blanka won gold at the 2003 European Athletics Under-23 Championships. She then improved her best jump to 2.01 meters. This qualified her for the World Championships. Her season ended with a seventh-place finish at the World Championships. Even so, only three athletes jumped higher than her 2.01 meters that year.

Breaking Records and Facing Health Issues

Blanka started 2004 well, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships. She often placed on the podium at outdoor events and won the national championships. A new Croatian record jump of 2.03 meters in Ljubljana made her ready for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

However, at the Olympic high jump final, she only managed to jump 1.89 meters, finishing eleventh. After this, Blanka didn't compete for almost a year. She felt very tired and was diagnosed with a health condition that affected her thyroid.

Surgery and recovery meant she missed most of the 2005 season. She only competed twice. She won the national championships with a jump of 1.95 meters. But her jump of 1.88 meters was not enough to reach the finals of the 2005 World Championships.

Even though her health problems stopped her from winning medals in 2004 and 2005, Blanka came back strong in 2006. She set a new indoor best of 2.05 meters (a national record) in February. She then won silver at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships. She was happy with her silver medal, especially after being in the hospital a year before.

At the 2006 European Athletics Championships, she jumped 2.01 meters and finished fourth. This was the best jump ever for someone who didn't win a medal. Blanka ended the season by competing at the 2006 World Athletics Final, finishing sixth.

Blanka's Dominance and World Championship Gold

In 2007, Blanka had an amazing year. She won eighteen out of nineteen outdoor competitions! Her only loss was early in the season.

Blanka won the World Championships in Osaka, Japan. She jumped 2.05 meters, winning Croatia's first gold medal ever at the World Athletics Championships. Two other athletes, Antonietta Di Martino and Anna Chicherova, both cleared 2.03 meters and shared the silver medal.

In October, Blanka was named the female European Athlete of the Year. This was a big honor, and she was the first Croatian athlete and the first high jumper to win this award.

Olympic Silver Medal in Beijing (2008)

In March 2008, Blanka won her first world indoor title in Valencia, Spain, jumping 2.03 meters. Ten days earlier, she had set a new indoor national record of 2.05 meters.

Before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Blanka had jumped over 2.00 meters twelve times outdoors. She was leading the world rankings with a jump of 2.06 meters.

At the Olympics, Blanka cleared every height on her first try, up to 2.03 meters. At 2.03 meters, Blanka, Anna Chicherova, and Tia Hellebaut were still competing. The bar then went to 2.05 meters. Blanka missed her first try, but Hellebaut broke the Belgian record. Blanka cleared the bar on her second jump. However, she lost the gold medal to Hellebaut because Hellebaut had fewer misses earlier in the competition. Neither athlete cleared 2.07 meters.

Blanka's season ended when she was again beaten on countback in the final event of the ÅF Golden League. This meant she missed out on winning a big prize. She had won the previous five Golden League events but finished second in the last one.

Second World Title and a Historic Jump (2009)

In 2009, Blanka started her indoor season by jumping 2.05 meters in Karlsruhe, Germany. This tied her own national indoor record. However, she didn't win a medal at the 2009 European Indoor Athletics Championships, finishing fifth.

At the World Championships, Blanka competed against Germany's Ariane Friedrich. Anna Chicherova also joined them in the final. Blanka cleared 2.02 meters on her second try. At 2.04 meters, Blanka was the first to clear the bar. She then tried to jump 2.10 meters, which would have been a new world record, but she missed all three attempts.

On August 31, at a competition in Zagreb, Blanka made an incredible jump of 2.08 meters. This was a new personal best and a new Croatian record! It also made her the second-best high jumper of all time, just behind the world record of 2.09 meters set by Stefka Kostadinova in 1987. She tried for 2.10 meters again but couldn't clear it.

More Titles and Awards (2010)

On February 6, 2010, Blanka jumped 2.06 meters in Arnstadt, Germany. This added one centimeter to her personal best and Croatian record. It also made her the third-best indoor high jumper ever. A month later, she won her second world indoor title in Doha, Qatar, with a jump of 2.00 meters.

During the outdoor season, she won the first-ever IAAF Diamond League series for high jump. She won seven events in the series. Blanka cleared 2.00 meters in six of these seven competitions.

On August 1, 2010, Blanka won her first European title with a jump of 2.03 meters. This tied the championship record. She beat Sweden's Emma Green and Germany's Ariane Friedrich, who both jumped 2.01 meters.

Blanka was chosen to represent Europe at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup in her hometown of Split, Croatia. She won the event with a jump of 2.05 meters. She tried to jump 2.10 meters for a new world record but didn't make it.

At the end of 2010, Blanka was named the European Athlete and IAAF World Athlete of the Year.

World Championships Medal (2011)

Before the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, Blanka was not the favorite to win. Her rival, Anna Chicherova, had jumped 2.07 meters, a new Russian record. Blanka also had a left leg injury, and it wasn't certain she would compete.

However, Blanka showed great form at the championships. She managed to clear 2.03 meters and won the silver medal. She came very close to clearing 2.05 meters, which would have made her the first high jumper to win three world titles in a row. But Anna Chicherova won the gold medal because she had fewer misses.

Injuries and Comebacks (2012-2015)

In January 2012, Blanka had surgery on her left Achilles tendon. The operation seemed to go well, but then she got an infection and needed another surgery in April. The slow healing meant she couldn't prepare for the London Olympics, so she had to withdraw. She missed all of 2012.

After 20 months, Blanka returned to competition on May 25, 2013, in New York City. She won with a jump of 1.94 meters. She then jumped 1.95 meters in Rome and 2.00 meters in Buhl. She was getting ready for the 2013 Moscow World Championships. But she had to pull out because she wasn't fully recovered.

World Championships Silver (2015)

In March 2014, Blanka returned to an international championship at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships. She finished sixth with 1.94 meters. She then had to withdraw from the 2014 European Athletics Championships due to a knee injury.

However, she came back a week later and placed fourth with 1.93 meters. She ended her season well, jumping that height again in Zagreb.

In 2015, Blanka started her outdoor season in Rome. She placed second with 1.97 meters. She then jumped the same height in New York City. But because of ongoing foot pain, she canceled other competitions to get ready for the Beijing World Championships.

The World Championships in Beijing were Blanka's first major outdoor championship since 2011. On August 27, she reached the finals. Two days later, she won the silver medal! She was beaten by Mariya Lasitskene (formerly Kuchina) on countbacks. For Blanka, this silver medal felt like gold because of all the difficulties she had faced with injuries.

Olympic Bronze Medal (2016)

Because of her Achilles problem, Blanka only competed once in 2016. This was in Split, Croatia, on January 29. She won with a jump of 1.95 meters, which was enough to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. On February 3, she had surgery in Turku, Finland. Even though she didn't compete during the outdoor season, she was chosen to represent Croatia in the high jump at the Olympics.

Olympic Competition

On August 18, Blanka competed in the Women's high jump qualification. She reached the finals by clearing 1.94 meters. Two days later, she competed in the final. She cleared 1.88 meters and 1.93 meters on her second try. Then she cleared 1.97 meters.

Only Blanka, Ruth Beitia, Mirela Demireva, and Chaunté Lowe cleared that height. Blanka was in third place. She tried to jump 2.00 meters but couldn't clear it. Since no one else cleared 2.00 meters either, she won the bronze medal! This was the first time since the 1980 Summer Olympics that the winning height was below 2.00 meters. Blanka became only the seventh female athlete in history to win two Olympic medals in high jump. Blanka later donated her medal to a Croatian shrine.

Retirement

On July 19, 2017, Blanka announced she would not compete at the 2017 IAAF World Championships due to foot pain. She said she didn't plan to retire yet and hoped to return for the 2018 season, aiming for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

However, on February 19, 2021, Blanka Vlašić officially announced her retirement from athletics.

Personal Life

Blanka Vlašić was named after Casablanca. This is a city where her father competed and won a gold medal around the time she was born.

From the start of her career, her father, Joško Vlašić, was her coach. She was also coached by former high jumper Bojan Marinović.

Her brother, Nikola Vlašić, is a famous Croatian football player.

Blanka is a member of the 'Champions for Peace' club. This group includes 54 famous athletes who use sport to help bring peace to the world. Blanka is a devoted Roman Catholic.

On May 26, 2022, Blanka Vlašić announced on Instagram that she had married Belgian sports journalist Ruben Van Gucht. She also shared that they were expecting their first child.

Images for kids

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  Vlašić quickly became Croatia's top female high jump athlete.

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  Vlašić preparing to jump at the 2009 World Championships

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  En route to her 2.08 m jump in Zagreb

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  Blanka Vlašić at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona

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  Blanka Vlašić at the 2011 World Championships where she earned the silver medal

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  Vlašić in New York in 2015

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  Blanka Vlašić en route to her 2.06 m jump in Arnstadt, 2010 (2.06, NIR)

See also

In Spanish: Blanka Vlašić para niños