Iztok Puc

Iztok Puc

Player information
Nickname	"Žoga"
birthday	September 14, 1966
place of birth	Slovenj Gradec , Yugoslavia
citizenship	slovenian croatian
date of death	October 20, 2011
Place of death	San Diego , United States
height	1.96 m
Playing position	Back left
Throwing hand	right
Clubs in the youth
from ... to	society
0000-1985	RK Šoštanj
Clubs as active
from ... to	society
1985-1986	RK Šoštanj
1986-1990	RK Borac Banja Luka
1990-1994	Zagreb chromos
1994-1999	RK Celje
1999-2002	Prule 67 Ljubljana
National team
	Games (goals)
Yugoslavia Croatia Slovenia	82 (191) 65 (325) 34 (120)

Iztok Puc (born September 14, 1966 in Slovenj Gradec , Yugoslavia , † October 20, 2011 in San Diego , United States ) was a Slovenian - Croatian handball player and functional . He is the only handball player who took part in the Summer Olympics with three different national teams. With Croatia was left back player 1996 Olympic champion.

Career

societies

Puc moved from RK Šoštanj to RK Borac Banja Luka in 1986 , where he matured early to become one of the best players in the Yugoslav State League. After joining Zagreb-Chromos in 1990 , a period began when he won numerous national and international titles. With Zagreb he was champion and cup winner four times. He also won the European Cup twice with the club . In the final of the 1992/93 season, Puc played a major role. In the second leg against SG Wallau / Massenheim he prevented overtime with a goal seconds before the end and threw Zagreb to the title. From 1994 to 1999 he played for RK Celje and won all national championships and trophies played during this time with the club. With Prule 67 Ljubljana (1999-2002) he won again the Slovenian championship and the cup in the 2001/02 season. He then ended his career as a player.

National teams

Puc celebrated his first major success with the U-21 national team of Yugoslavia at the 1987 World Cup , when the team was able to win the title. Just a year later he won the bronze medal with the senior national team at the Summer Olympics in Seoul . After he became a Croatian citizen, he won gold with the Croatian national team at the Mediterranean Games in 1993 and 1996 at the Olympic Games in Atlanta . He was also runner- up with the team in 1995 and third at the 1994 European Championship . From 1998 to 2000 Puc played for the Slovenian national team and achieved the record with qualifying for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney as the only handball player to have participated in the Olympic Games for three nations.

Retirement, sickness & death

After his active career, he became the sports director at Prule 67 Ljubljana.

In 2005 he emigrated to Florida with his wife Jasenka (daughter of the 1972 Olympic handball champion Hrvoje Horvat ) to support their only son Borut in his tennis career .

In April 2011, Puc was diagnosed with the first signs of cancer . After the disease had spread from the lungs to the liver, he died on October 20, 2011 in a hospital in San Diego, USA .

successes

• Yugoslav Champion (1): 1991
• Croatian champion (3): 1992, 1993, 1994
• Slovenian champion (6): 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002
• Yugoslav Cup Winner (1): 1991
• Croatian Cup Winner (3): 1992, 1993, 1994
• Slovenian Cup Winner (6): 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002
• European Champion Clubs' Cup (2): 1992 , 1993
• Olympic Champion (1): 1996
• Mediterranean Champion (1): 1993
• U-21 world champion (1): 1987

Honors, awards & commemorations

Personally

• Elected MVP of the U-21 World Cup - 1987
• Vote for the best athlete of the Borac Banja Luka Club - 1987
• Receipt of the Red Danice hrvatske decoration - 1995
• Received the Franjo Bučar State Prize for Sport - 1996
• Appointment as the best handball player in Slovenia of all time - 2009
• Inclusion in the Hall of Fame of Slovenian Athletes - 2016

As namesake

• Iztok Puc Award - since 2013

Plaque

• Badge at the Kutija šibica in Zagreb - 2016

Web links

• Iztok Puc in the database of the European Handball Federation (English)
• Iztok Puc in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 24sata.hr: Saračević: Žoga je cijele Igre odigrao na samo jednoj nozi (Croatian) of October 20, 2011, accessed on December 28, 2018
2. ↑ ^{a b} politikaplus.com: LEGENDA HRVATSKOG, SLOVENSKOG I SVJETSKOG RUKOMETA: Otkrivena spomen ploča legendi hrvatskog i slovenskog rukometa Iztoku Pucu (Croatian) from November 22, 2016, accessed on December 28, 2018
3. ↑ Statistics from the Slovenian handball association (A international men’s games) (Slovenian), accessed on December 28, 2018
4. ↑ ^{a b c} sloveniatimes.com: Handball Player Puc Dies (English) from October 21, 2011, accessed on December 28, 2018
5. ↑ siol.net: In memoriam: Iztok Puc (Slovenian) from October 20, 2011, accessed on December 28, 2018
6. ↑ ^{a b c} tenisportal.si: "Moj oče je bil najboljši oče na svetu," je dejal Borut Puc! (Slovenian) October 27, 2011, accessed December 28, 2018
7. ↑ handball-world.news: Slovenia and Croatia with joint award for young talented (English) from October 23, 2013, accessed on December 28, 2018