Early life Mihalić was born in 1920 in the village of Ludina (part of
Kutina), in what is today
Sisak-Moslavina County,
Croatia. In 1936, while playing
football for the local club NK Grafičar, Mihalić met
Stjepan Bobek, three years his junior. Mihalić started working at age 16 as a
printing house apprentice. This event was crucial in his decision to leave cycling and take up athletics. He joined the Concordia Zagreb athletics club and after only several months of training set his first national record in the 5000 meters, followed shortly by a national record in the 10,000 meters. Following WWII Mihalić ran for the newly formed
Mladost athletics club from 1945 to 1947, of which he was a co-founder. Mihalić also competed in the 10,000 m event at the
1952 Summer Olympics in
Helsinki, finishing 18th. Mihalić left his mark on the
Saint Silvester Road Race in
São Paulo, Brazil, where he won twice (1952 and 1954), once placed third (1951) and once second (1953, losing to
Emil Zátopek). Apart from his later victory in
Boston, Mihalić scored wins in international marathons in
Athens and
Moscow (both in 1957). Mihalić came to Melbourne in good running shape; by his account, he had been training more than ever. Mihalić himself judged that, in a field of 46 Olympic marathon entrants, 15 were better than him, and the course provided little or no shade, except for the start and finish. Despite bruising his arms and legs he managed to get up and continue the race but only reconnected with the head of the pack at the 20th kilometer. Mihalić decided against chasing him until the 35th kilometer, when he realized none of the other runners were able to follow. In the end, he was the second to cross the finish line in a time of 2:26:32, a minute and a half after Mimoun, and a minute in front of the bronze medalist
Veikko Karvonen.
1958 Boston Marathon Another highlight of Mihalić's career came in the 1958
Boston Marathon race, held on an unusually warm day. He scored a decisive victory over the field, besting the defending champion
John J. Kelley who took second place by nearly five minutes, and leaving the third-placed
Einno Pulkkinen more than 11 minutes behind. Mihalić's winning time of 2:25:54 was five minutes short of Kelley's course record established in the previous year, but was still impressive given the hot weather in which the race was held. The "heat-loving Yugoslav's" successes in hot conditions were attributed to his unusual habit of training in the middle of the day, between noon and 2 pm. Mihalić's 1958 Boston Marathon win was the first – and, , the only – by a male athlete from the former
communist state.
Later career and retirement Mihalić participated in the
marathon at the
1960 Summer Olympics in
Rome, finishing 12th, in a time of 2:21:52.6.
Veteran career Mihalić participated in 10 km runs until his late 70s. He had to quit running on doctor's orders in the early 2000s when he severely injured his knee in the
Cer-
Šabac race. ==Quotes==