Did you know that…
- Blanka’s father and coach Josko Vlasic is the national decathlon record holder while her mother Venera used to be successful basketball player and cross-country skier.
- Blanka got her name after Casablanca, where her father won the decathlon gold medal at the 1983 Mediterranean Games, around the time of her birth.
- She was born in town of Split, the hometown of famous tennis players Goran Ivanisevic and Nikola Pilic (who became more famous for coaching Novak Djokovic) and Duje Draganja, Olympic medalist winner in swimming.
- Blanka Vlasic has three younger brothers: Marin used to play basketball but he recently began coaching, Luka attends high school, while the youngest brother Nikola is extraordinary talented football player.
- Initially, Blanka wanted to be a sprinter, but since she was thin and tall, she decided upon the high jump. Her height is 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in).
- So far, Blanka Vlasic has entered the Olympic Games three times: in Sydney, Athens and Beijing, where she won silver. If everything goes well, she’s looking forward to enter her fourth Olympics, in London 2012.
- Due to her hyperthyroid condition she underwent surgery in 2005 and spent almost the whole season recovering, but she was determined and well motivated to get back in shape.
- Blanka’s personal best at 2.08 m, which is also the second-best performance ever, was set on August 31st 2009, at IAAF Grand prix meet in Zagreb. However, the record holder in high jump is still Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova, who set the record to 2.09 m in 1987.
- In 2010, Blanka Vlasic dated Nikola Karabatic, French team handball player of Croatian and Serbian descent, but they broke up after a few months.
Blanka Vlasic succeeded in 18 out of 20 competitions this year, including all seven of the IAAF Diamond League meetings and the IAAF Continental Cup.
