Ivančić was born in 1937 He won a gold medal in
shot put in the
1975 Mediterranean Games, bronze in
1979, and two bronze medals in the
1980 European Athletics Indoor Championships and the
1983 European Athletics Indoor Championships. In addition, he represented Yugoslavia in the
1972 and
1976 Summer Olympic Games and in the
1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, placing 19th, 16th and 12th respectively. His appearance in the shot put final in Helsinki, at the age of 45 years 244 days, makes Ivančić the oldest ever
World Championships competitor in shot put, as well as the oldest ever World Championships finalist in any event. On 31 August 1983 in
Koblenz, less than a month after the Helsinki final, Ivančić set his personal best of 20.77 m. , this is the world masters record in the M45 category (men 45–49 years of age); no other athlete in this age category has managed to come within two and a half meters of this mark. For some time, he was active in veterans' competitions, but has given them up because he "could not accept the fact that the shot would not go over 20 meters, like it had before".
Coaching career Ivančić entered into coaching in the 1970s, while still actively competing, working with
Vladimir Milić and
Jovan Lazarević, gold medalists in shot put for Yugoslavia at the Mediterranean Games in 1979 and 1983, respectively. After the
breakup of Yugoslavia, Ivančić coached Croatian athletes such as
Edis Elkasević, world junior champion and world junior record holder in shot put, and gold medalist at the Mediterranean Games;
Marin Premeru, world youth record holder in shot put;
Ivana Brkljačić, double world junior champion in hammer throw; and
Darko Kralj,
Paralympic champion, world champion and world record holder in shot put. Ivančić coached
Sandra Perković, the
Croatian
discus thrower, whom he recognized as a talent in discus throw. In her first year with Ivančić, she improved her personal best from 32 to over 50 meters. After winning gold at the
2009 European Athletics Junior Championships, Perković became the youngest ever European champion in discus throw at the
2010 European Athletics Championships in
Barcelona, and successfully defended her title two years later in
Helsinki. ==References==