The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Icon of occuation in country

This page contains a list of the greatest Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 4 of which were born in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This makes Bosnia and Herzegovina the birth place of the 79th most number of Athletes behind Uruguay, and Sri Lanka.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athletes of all time. This list of famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athletes.

Photo of Zoran Janković

1. Zoran Janković (1940 - 2002)

With an HPI of 46.25, Zoran Janković is the most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.

Zoran Janković (January 8, 1940 in Zenica, Kingdom of Yugoslavia – May 25, 2002 in Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia) was a Yugoslav water polo player notable for winning a silver medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and a gold medal in Mexico City in 1968, with the Yugoslavian men's water polo team. In his career, he played for the Mladost from Zagreb and Partizan from Belgrade.He also played one season as coach/player for Red Star Belgrade in the late 70s.

Photo of Jasna Kolar-Merdan

2. Jasna Kolar-Merdan (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 42.28, Jasna Kolar-Merdan is the 2nd most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Jasna Kolar-Merdan (born 19 October 1956 in Mostar) is a former Bosnian and Yugoslav handball player who competed in the 1980 Summer Olympics, in the 1984 Summer Olympics and in the 1992 Summer Olympics. In 1980 she won the silver medal with the Yugoslav team. She played all five matches and scored nine goals. Four years later she won the gold medal as member of the Yugoslav team. She played all five matches and scored 48 goals. She was the top scorer of the tournament. She was voted World Handball Player of 1990 by the International Handball Federation. In 1992 she was part of the Austrian team which finished fifth in the Olympic tournament. She played all four matches and scored 23 goals.

Photo of Amel Tuka

3. Amel Tuka (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 35.92, Amel Tuka is the 3rd most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Amel Tuka (born 9 January 1991) is a Bosnian middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. His achievements include a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships as well as a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships. Tuka holds national records in the 400 m and 800 m disciplines. On 17 July 2015, with a time of 1:42.51, Tuka positioned himself as the world leader in the men's 800 metres for the year 2015. He subsequently earned his country's first medal in a major athletics championship with his third-place finish in the men's 800 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics. He earned his second medal at the World Championships in 2019, finishing second in the men's 800 metres.

Photo of Hamza Alić

4. Hamza Alić (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 32.36, Hamza Alić is the 4th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Hamza Alić (born 20 January 1979) is a Bosnian shot putter. On 1 March 2013, at 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships, he won a silver medal which he dedicated to all the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina to coincide with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Independence Day. His personal best throw is 21.07 m (69 ft 1+1⁄2 in), achieved in April 2008 in Podgorica.

Photo of Ana Šimić

5. Ana Šimić (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 25.12, Ana Šimić is the 5th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Ana Šimić (born 5 May 1990) is a Croatian athlete who competes in the high jump. She competed at the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Summer Olympics. Her personal best is 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in), set in August 2014 at the European Athletics Championships in Zürich.

Photo of Bojana Bjeljac

6. Bojana Bjeljac (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 0.00, Bojana Bjeljac is the 6th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Bojana Bjeljac (born 10 April 1989) is a Croatian long distance runner. She competed in the women's marathon at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. In 2017, she won Vienna Half-Marathon and Ferarra Marathon. Those were her first international victories in half-marathon and marathon. In 2019, she competed in the women's marathon at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar. She did not finish her race. Her marathon personal best is 2:31:26, set in the 2019 Hannover Marathon. As of 2019, she holds national records over 5000 (15:43.73) and 10,000 m (33:08.1).

Photo of Mesud Pezer

7. Mesud Pezer (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 0.00, Mesud Pezer is the 7th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Mesud Pezer (born 27 August 1994) is a Bosnian shot putter. Pezer holds both national records in the shot put discipline. He represented his country at the 2016 Summer Olympics without qualifying for the final, and the 2020 Summer Olympics, where he reached the final and placed 11th overall. His personal bests in the event are 21.48 m (70 ft 5+1⁄2 in) outdoors (Växjö 2019) and 21.15 m (69 ft 4+1⁄2 in) indoors (Birmingham 2018).

Photo of Laura van der Heijden

8. Laura van der Heijden (b. )

With an HPI of 0.00, Laura van der Heijden is the 8th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athlete.  Their biography has been translated into different languages.

Laura van der Heijden may refer to: Laura van der Heijden (musician), British cellist Laura van der Heijden (handballer), Dutch handball player

Photo of Dimitrije Levajac

9. Dimitrije Levajac (b. 2001)

With an HPI of 0.00, Dimitrije Levajac is the 9th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Dimitrije Levajac (Serbian Cyrillic: Димитрије Левајац, born 14 August 2001) is a Serbian table tennis player who competed in 2020 Summer Olympics in men's singles and men's team. He was eliminated in singles in first round by Russian table tennis player Kirill Skachkov. He also competes in the Team Tournament.

Photo of Wiktor Głazunow

10. Wiktor Głazunow (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 0.00, Wiktor Głazunow is the 10th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Wiktor Głazunow (born 24 October 1993) is a Polish sprint canoeist. He competed at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, in the men's C-2 1000 metres and C-1 1000 metres events, respectively.

People

Pantheon has 17 people classified as Bosnian, Herzegovinian athletes born between 1940 and 2001. Of these 17, 16 (94.12%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Bosnian, Herzegovinian athletes include Jasna Kolar-Merdan, Amel Tuka, and Hamza Alić. The most famous deceased Bosnian, Herzegovinian athletes include Zoran Janković. As of April 2024, 13 new Bosnian, Herzegovinian athletes have been added to Pantheon including Jasna Kolar-Merdan, Bojana Bjeljac, and Mesud Pezer.

Living Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athletes

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Deceased Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athletes

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Newly Added Bosnian, Herzegovinian Athletes (2024)

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous