Vera Nikolic
World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that Vera Nikolic, Serbia’s former world 800m record-holder, died on Monday (28) at the age of 72.
A two-time European champion having claimed 800m gold for Yugoslavia in Budapest in 1966 and Helsinki in 1971, Nikolic achieved her world record-breaking run of 2:00.5 in London on 20 July 1968. That mark would not be beaten for almost three years.
She raced at two Olympic Games, in 1968 and 1972, and went on to become a highly successful coach.
Born in Grabovica in 1948, Nikolic later moved to Zagreb where she was guided by Leo Lang. She won her first European title at the age of just 17, clocking 2:02.8 in Budapest for a performance which ranked her No.1 in the world that year, before breaking the world record while still a teenager.
During that world record run, she ran negative splits with a final 200m of 29.9 to beat Lillian Board, who went on to claim 400m silver at the Olympics later that year.
Nikolic’s second European title was won in a time of 2:00.00 and she improved her PB to 1:59.62 in the heats at the Munich Olympics. She then dipped under two minutes for a second time with 1:59.98 to finish fifth in the final. She also ran a 1500m best of 4:12.7 that summer.
Following her own career on the track she went on to guide athletes as a coach in Krusevac, and received many awards in recognition of her achievements.
World Athletics
