Every year, the Croatian Olympic Committee announces the best Croatian athletes of that year in the individual competition, in pairs and in the team in the men’s and women’s competition.
In addition, the biggest award of the Olympic Committee “Marija Ljubek” for life’s work is given to prominent athletes and officials, 4 to 6 of these awards are given annually.
This year, among others, the award went to Zlatko Žagmeštar, who was declared the best handball player in the world in 1966, and Morana Paliković Gruden, who has been president of the Croatian ice skating federation for 20 years and deputy president of the Croatian Olympic committee.
For the first time, a bridge player Jurica Carić won the award in competition with other more popular sports. He received the award primarily because, with occasional absences, he has been a member of the Croatian open team almost continuously for 58 years. The Prime Minister of Croatia presented the award to the best athlete in Croatia, and in his short speech, he congratulated only Carić Jurica out of all the awardees individually. After the award ceremony, there was a Gala dinner for almost 400 guests.