Borislav Dević
Personal information | |
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Nationality |
Borislav Dević (
Running career
Dević was born in Donje Biljane, a small village in Ravni Kotari. Growing up in Kninska Krajina, he first specialized in the 1500 metres. He became one of the most competitive middle-distance track runners in all of SR Croatia and ran at the 1987 Summer Universiade in Zagreb. When Yugoslavia began to break up, he moved briefly to Sarajevo, but soon took refuge in Belgrade while his parents moved to live in the United States. Being without his parents or any close relatives in Belgrade, he was invited by Goran Raičević and his wife Jelena to live with them.[4] He formed a very close friendship with Raičević, and their training together lasted up to the time when Dević ran the men's marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics, finishing in 49th place of 111 finishers with a time of 2:21:22. He finished in seventh place at the 1997 Belgrade Marathon in a time of 2:16:01.[5]
After the end of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Dević moved to Australia. A Japanese movie director, who was fascinated by Dević's life story and his friendship with Raičević, planned to make a documentary about Dević's career.[4]
He passed away on January 8 2023, one day before his 60th birthday. His funeral was held on January 12 2023 in Cabramatta Serbian Orthodox Church and was buried at Liverpool Cemetery, both the funeral and burial were attended by hundreds of people including close friends, family and young athletes he had trained throughout the years following his move to Australia.
Notes
- Serbia's Athletic Association's all-time best lists.
References
- ^ a b c World Athletics. "Borislav DEVIĆ - Profile".
- ^ Association of Road Racing Statisticians. "Runner profile: Borislav Devic".
- ^ Tužna vest je stigla iz sidneja! Napustio nas je čuveni reprezentativac - Borislav Dević preminuo samo dan pred 60. rođendan! (in Serbian)
- ^ a b Dragan Milenković (27 June 2000). "Japanci ispratili našeg rekordera". Glas javnosti.
- ^ "ODRŽAN 10. "BEOGRADSKI ŠTARK MARATON"". Naša borba. 21 April 1997.