Iztok Puc

Iztok Puc
Personal information
Born (1966-09-14)14 September 1966[1]
Slovenj Gradec, SR Slovenia,
Yugoslavia[1]
Died 20 October 2011(2011-10-20) (aged 45)
San Diego, California, U.S.[2]
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[1]
Playing position Left back
Youth career
Years Team
19??–1985
 Šoštanj
Senior clubs
Years Team
1985–1990
 Borac Banja Luka
1990–1994
 Zagreb
1994–1999
 Celje
1999–2002
 Prule 67
National team
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1991
  Yugoslavia 82 (191)
1991–1998
  Croatia 65 (325)
1998–2000
  Slovenia 34 (120)
Medal record
Representing  Yugoslavia
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Seoul Team
Junior World Championship
Gold medal – first place 1987 Yugoslavia Team
Representing  Croatia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta Team
World Championship
Silver medal – second place 1995 Iceland Team
European Championship
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Portugal Team
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 1993 Languedoc-Roussillon Team

Iztok Puc (14 September 1966 – 20 October 2011) was a Croatian-Slovenian handball player, who was one of the world's top players of the 1980s and 1990s.[3] During his career he played professionally for Borac Banja Luka, Zagreb, Celje and Prule 67. He won a total of 18 domestic trophies. He has won the elite EHF Champions League in 1992 and 1993, both times with Zagreb. He is one of very few handball players who represented three different countries at the Summer Olympics (Yugoslavia, Croatia and Slovenia),[4][5][6] winning bronze with Yugoslavia in 1988 and gold with Croatia in 1996. In 2009, he was named the best overall player in the history of Slovenian handball.[7] After his death an award named in his honour was introduced and is awarded annually to the most promising young handball players in Slovenia and Croatia, given alternately one year to Slovenian and another year to Croatian player.[8][9]

  1. ^ a b c "Iztok Puc Biography and Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 6 April 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference tenisportal1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Iztok Puc passes away". eurohandball.com. European Handball Federation. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  4. ^ "Handball player Puc dies". Slovenian Press Agency. 21 October 2011. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  5. ^ M.L. (20 October 2011). "Slovo rokometne legende: Puc izgubil bitko z rakom". rtvslo.si (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  6. ^ "Iztok Puc izgubio bitku s teškom bolešću" [Iztok Puc succumbs to a severe illness]. Vjesnik (in Croatian). 20 October 2011. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  7. ^ "Iztok Puc izgubil boj z zahrbtno boleznijo, humanitarni tekmi 5. novembra v Celju ostajata". rokometna-zveza.si (in Slovenian). Handball Federation of Slovenia. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  8. ^ Maja Mastnak (6 November 2011). "Spomenik Iztoku Pucu" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  9. ^ Zoran Vujić (3 November 2011). "Posljednji ispraćaj Iztoka Puca" (in Croatian). Croatian Handball Federation. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2011.