Franjo Mihalić

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Men's Athletics
Olympic medal record
Silver	Melbourne 1956	Marathon

Franjo Mihalić (born March 9, 1921 in Kutina, Yugoslavia - now Croatia) is one of the most successful Croatian distance runners best known for his 1958 win at Boston marathon and his marathon silver medal in the 1956 Olympic Games.

Just before the outbreak of the Second World War, Mihalić first took up football in Zagreb (“Grafičar″), then choosed cycling (“Olimp″) and, finally, in 1941 got into athletics (“Konkordija″). After the war he joined “Mladost″. In 1947 he transferred to “Partizan″.

He was a Yugoslav and Balkan champion and boasts 25 national records in the 5,000 m, the 10,000 m, the one hour race, the 20 km and the 25 km. His personal bests in the Olympic events are 14:18.00 in the 5.000 m; 29:37.6 in the 10.000 m; and 2:21:23 in the marathon. He triumphed in the marathons in Tokyo, Moscow, Boston and Athens, and in São Paulo’s “Saint Silvester Race”. In 1952 he won “Cross des Nationes” in Paris, the forerunner of the world championships.

Mihalić' best ranking at the European Championships was the fifth place in 1954 in the 10,000 m race (29:59.6). He competed in three consecutive editions of the Summer Olympics – debuting in 1952 in Helsinki with the 18th place in the 10,000 m (30:53.2); winning his Olympic medal in Melbourne in 1956, the marathon silver with 2:26:32; ending his Olympic career in Rome in 1960 at the age of 39 with the 12th place in the marathon with 2:21:52.

Mihalić worked as a physical education teacher at the Military Academy, had a long and fruitful career as a veteran, and still coaches runners in “Partizan”.