Personage > Branko Zorko
Branko Zorko was born in Čakovec on July 1st, 1967. As a young man from Hodošan in Međimurje he enrolled in College of Agriculture in Križevci and graduated in 1985. Drago Palčić noticed him at a school cross-country running competition in 1984 and subsequently included him in activites at athletics club Čelik (Steel) in Križevci. Ever since, Palčić as coach and Zorko as his most prominent protégé have been inseparable at all home and international running tracks.All through his running career, he would simply say running was his job. Since he won so many medals, and broke so many records, he had undoubtedly earned a place among the athletics elite, and should pass on his knowledge to future runners.
His major sports achievements in the 1980s include: 1st place at the 1985 Junior Championship (800 and 1500 m), Junior Champion of Yugoslavia (1500 m, Postojna, 1985), 2nd place at Balkan Games/Championships (Crete, 1985). he participated at the 1987 Universiade in Zagreb, and1987 European Championship in Göteborg. His major sports achievements include:
- Glasgow (1990): European Indoor Championship3000 m track, Bronze medal
- Genova (1992): European Indoor Championship1500 m track, bronze medal
- Toronto (1993.): World Indoor Championship1500 m track, bronze medal
- Paris (1994): European Indoor Championship1500 m track, silver medal
- Helsinki (1994): European Championship1500 m track, bronze medal
In the entire sports history there are few colleagues of Branko Zorko who had the opportunity to participate in as many as five consecutive Olympic games. Zorko started his olympic cycle in Seul in 1988 as a representative of Yugoslavia. In Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000, and finally Athens in 2004, he ran as Croatian representative.
