Long jumpers Ivana Spanovic and Lazar Anic have been named 2017 Serbian Athletes of the Year at an award ceremony held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Belgrade on Tuesday (30).
Spanovic was the star of the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade last March when she retained her title with a sparkling series of jumps: 7.16m, 7.17m and 7.24m, the longest jump recorded indoors since 1989.
Spanovic also went out to 7.03m in qualifying and her sixth round jump would have been measured at over the seven metre line if she didn’t fall back in the sand in celebration.
Ivana Å panović i Lazar Anić najbolji atletičari u 2017.godini! ÄŒestitamo! :) pic.twitter.com/s5C8l2Whn2
— Atletski Savez Srb (@srbatl) January 30, 2018
Spanovic’s summer campaign was disrupted by injury and illness. Despite producing a season’s best of 6.96m, Spanovic just missed out on a medal at the IAAF World Championships in London but she did finish her season on a positive note, winning the Diamond League trophy in Brussels.
Spanovic will open her season in Karlsruhe this weekend on the road to the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.
Lazar Anic was named male Serbian Athlete of the Year. He finished sixth at the European Indoor Championships and extended his lifetime best to 8.15m outdoors.
In the U20 category, another long jumper took the plaudits as 19-year-old Milica Gardasevic was named female U20 Athlete of the Year. Gardasevic won the European U20 title in Grosseto with 6.46m after producing a marginally wind-aided 6.62m to reach the final.
The next great Serbian long jumper?
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) July 22, 2017
Milica Gardasevic led qualifying with a marginally wind-aided 6.62m. #Grosseto2017 pic.twitter.com/knaLUXQoMk