Sportske novosti awards () refer to annual sports awards given by Sportske novosti, a Croatian sports newspaper based in Zagreb. The awards originated in the early 1950s and went on to become one of the most prestigious Croatian sports awards. The winners are decided by polling sports journalists from around the country.
History Sportske novosti ("Sports News"; sometimes referred to by initials SN) is a Croatian sports daily established in 1945 and based in Zagreb. It first began awarding the Sportsman of the Year and Sportswoman of the Year awards in 1950, honoring greatest achievements in Yugoslav sports. The award, one of several Yugoslav national-level sporting honors, was given every year for the next four decades, until 1990, when it was discontinued due to the breakup of Yugoslavia and Croatia's independence.
Before independence, in 1952 the newspaper had launched a parallel award for Croatian athletes, which honored best sporting achievements by any athlete hailing from SR Croatia, then a republic within Yugoslavia. After Croatia's independence in 1991 the Yugoslav category was discontinued, while the Croatian category continued to the present day. In 1966 a separate Best Yugoslav Sports Team was introduced, for achievements in team sports, and in 1973 the award was split into separate categories for men's and women's teams.
Since inception, all awards are selected through a poll of sports journalists from around the country who are members of the Croatian Association of Sports Journalists (Hrvatski zbor sportskih novinara, HZSN), the national professional association for sports writers established in 1949.
Winners Award winners in all categories are collectively referred to as the "Golden Roll" (Zlatna lista), and the winners for the preceding year are usually announced in early January. Since SN remains the only specialized sports daily in the country, the prize is regarded as one of the two most prestigious sports awards in Croatia, on par with the annual awards handed out by the Croatian Olympic Committee.
Among men, winners with most individual Croatian awards include the table tennis player Dragutin Šurbek (five wins in 1968–83), tennis star and Wimbledon winner Goran Ivanišević (five wins in 1992–2001), and alpine skier Ivica Kostelić (five wins in 2002–11). Other notable multiple winners include tennis player Nikola Pilić (three wins in 1962–67), boxer Mate Parlov (three wins in 1971–73), basketball player and three-time NBA champion Toni Kukoč (1989–91), and the Olympic gymnast Tin Srbić (four wins in 2017–23).
In the women's category, the all-time record holder is discus thrower Sandra Perković with nine wins (2012–22), followed by alpine skier Janica Kostelić with eight (1998–2006), and high jumper Blanka Vlašić with six (2004–11). Other notable multiple winners include tennis player and Roland Garros winner Iva Majoli (four wins in 1994–97), Olympic sports shooter Jasna Šekarić (four wins in 1986–89), bowling champion Biserka Perman (three wins in 1982–92) and sprinter Milka Babović (three wins in 1952–55).
In the Yugoslav era, multiple winners of the national award include long-distance runner Franjo Mihalić (three wins in 1952–57), Slovenian gymnast Miroslav Cerar (eight wins in 1961–70), Serbian middle-distance runner Vera Nikolić (four wins in 1966–72), and Slovenian skiers Bojan Križaj (three wins in 1979–87) and Mateja Svet (three wins in 1986–89).
In team sports, the Yugoslavia men's national basketball team holds the record for most wins, with 13 awards won from 1966 to 1990, followed by the women's handball team with four (1973–84), the men's water polo team with three (1968–88) and the women's basketball team (three wins in 1987–90).
Athlete of the Year Yugoslav competition (1950–1990)
SFR Yugoslavia competition (1950–1990)YearSportsman of the YearSportswoman of the YearWinner (titles)SportWinner (titles)Sport1950 Athletics (track and field) Swimming1951 Athletics (track and field) Athletics (track and field)1952 Athletics (track and field) Athletics (shot put)1953 Rowing Athletics (track and field)1954 Table tennis Swimming1955 Association football (2)Athletics (track and field)1956 (2)Athletics (track and field) Swimming1957 (3)Athletics (track and field) Handball1958 Athletics (track and field) Alpine skiing1959 (2)Athletics (track and field) Athletics (track and field)1960 Basketball Athletics (high jump)1961 Gymnastics Swimming1962 (2)Gymnastics (2)Athletics (high jump)1963 (3)Gymnastics Parachuting1964 (4)Gymnastics (2)Athletics (track and field)1965 Sports shooting Handball1966 (5)Gymnastics Athletics (track and field)1967 Basketball (2)Athletics (track and field)1968 (6)Gymnastics Swimming1969 (7)Gymnastics Swimming1970 (8)Gymnastics Sports shooting1971 Boxing (3)Athletics (track and field)1972 (2)Boxing (4)Athletics (track and field)1973 Boxing Athletics (track and field)1974 (3)Boxing Athletics (javelin throw)1975 Athletics (long jump) Table tennis1976 Canoeing Tennis1977 Wrestling (2)Tennis1978 Basketball Karate1979 Alpine skiing Table tennis1980 Boxing Bowling1981 Swimming Figure skating1982 (2)Alpine skiing Bowling1983 Table tennis Sports shooting1984 Alpine skiing Handball1985 Basketball Tennis1986 Alpine skiing Alpine skiing1987 (3) Alpine skiing (2)Alpine skiing1988 Sports shooting Sports shooting1989 Judo (3)Alpine skiing1990 Basketball (2)Tennis
Croatian competition (1952–present) Sportsman of the Year
YearWinnerSport1952 (s) Rowing1952 (s) Rowing 1952 (s) Rowing 1952 (s) Rowing 1953 Rowing 1954 Table tennis1955 Association football1956 Athletics1957 Water polo1958 Athletics1959 Bowling1960 Association football1961 Tennis1962 (s) (2)Tennis1962 (s) Tennis1963 Basketball1964 (2)Tennis1965 Swimming1966 Bicycle racing1967 (3)Tennis1968 Table tennis1969 (2)Table tennis1970 Basketball1971 Boxing1972 (2)Boxing1973 (3)Boxing1974 Athletics 1975 Table tennis1976 Canoeing1977 Athletics 1978 Kayaking1979 (3)Table tennis1980 Basketball1981 (4)Table tennis1982 (2)Canoeing1983 (5)Table tennis1984 Wrestling1985 Basketball1986 (2)Basketball1987 Canoeing1988 Table tennis1989 Basketball1990 (2)Basketball1991 (3)Basketball1992 Tennis1993 (2)Tennis1994 (3)Tennis1995 Boxing1996 (4)Tennis1997 (2)Boxing1998 Association football1999 Swimming2000 Weightlifting2001 (5)Tennis2002 Alpine skiing2003 (2)Alpine skiing2004 Swimming2005 Tennis2006 (2)Tennis2007 Handball2008 Gymnastics2009 (3)Alpine skiing2010 (4)Alpine skiing2011 (5)Alpine skiing2012 Trap2013 Association football2014 Tennis2015 Association football2016 Rowing2017 Gymnastics2018 Association football2019 (2) Gymnastics2020 Handball2021 (3) Gymnastics2022 (2)Association football2023 (4) Gymnastics2024 Shooting sports2025 Swimming
Sportswoman of the Year
YearWinnerSport1952 Athletics (running)1953 (2)Athletics (running)1954 Swimming1955 (3)Athletics (running)1956 Swimming1957 Handball1958 Swimming1959 Basketball1960 Tennis1961 (2)Swimming1962 Athletics (running)1963 (2)Athletics (running)1964 (2)Handball1965 Athletics (running)1966 (2)Athletics (running)1967 Table tennis1968 Swimming1969 Swimming1970 Basketball1971 Athletics (running)1972 (2)Athletics (running)1973 Handball1974 Athletics (running)1975 Table tennis1976 Bowling1977 (2)Athletics (running)1978 Bowling1979 Figure skating1980 (2)Bowling1981 (2)Figure skating1982 Bowling1983 Tennis1984 (2)Table tennis1985 (2)Bowling1986 Sports shooting1987 (2)Sports shooting1988 (3)Sports shooting1989 (4)Sports shooting1990 Athletics (high jump)1991 Basketball1992 (3)Bowling1993 Sports shooting1994 Tennis1995 (2)Tennis1996 (3)Tennis1997 (4)Tennis1998 Alpine skiing1999 (2)Alpine skiing2000 (3)Alpine skiing2001 (4)Alpine skiing2002 (5)Alpine skiing2003 (6)Alpine skiing2004 Athletics (high jump)2005 (7)Alpine skiing2006 (8)Alpine skiing2007 (2)Athletics (high jump)2008 (3)Athletics (high jump)2009 (4)Athletics (high jump)2010 (5)Athletics (high jump)2011 (6)Athletics (high jump)2012 Athletics (discus throw)2013 (2)Athletics (discus throw)2014 (3)Athletics (discus throw)2015 (4)Athletics (discus throw)2016 (5)Athletics (discus throw)2017 (6)Athletics (discus throw)2018 (7)Athletics (discus throw)2019 (8)Athletics (discus throw)2020 Judo2021 Taekwondo2022 (9)Athletics (discus throw)2023 Taekwondo2024 (2)Judo 2025 Alpine skiing
By sport This table lists the total number of awards for individual sportsmen and sportswomen by recipients' sporting profession. Sport Men Women TotalAthletics 4 27 31Tennis 13 6 19Alpine skiing 5 9 14Basketball 8 3 11Table tennis 8 3 11Swimming 4 610Bowling 1 6 7Sports shooting 2 5 7Association football 7 0 7Rowing 6 0 6Boxing 5 0 5Handball 2 3 5Gymnastics 5 0 5Canoeing 3 0 3Figure skating 0 2 2Taekwondo 0 2 2Judo 0 2 2Bicycle racing 1 0 1Kayaking 1 0 1Water Polo 1 0 1Weightlifting 1 0 1Wrestling 1 0 1
Team of the Year 1966–1990 YearMen'sWomen's 1966 Men's national basketball team 1967 Men's national basketball team (2) 1968 Men's national water polo team 1969 Men's national basketball team (3) 1970 Men's national basketball team (4) 1971 VK Mladost 1972 Men's national handball team 1973 National basketball team (5) National handball team 1974 National basketball team (6) National sports shooting team 1975 National basketball team (7) N/A 1976 National basketball team (8) ŽRK Radnički Belgrade 1977 National basketball team (9) National youth handball team 1978 National basketball team (10) Bowling pair Tkalčić-Galošević 1979 "Everest '79" mountaineering expedition ŽKK Crvena zvezda 1980 National basketball team (11) National handball team (2) 1981 National football team National youth handball team (2) 1982 National handball team (2) National handball team (3) 1983 Table tennis pair Šurbek-Kalinić ŽRK Radnički Belgrade (2) 1984 National water polo team (2) National handball team (4) 1985 KK Cibona ŽRK Budućnost Podgorica 1986 National handball team (3) National sports shooting team (2) 1987 National water polo team (3) National basketball team 1988 National water polo team (4) National basketball team (2) 1989 National basketball team (12) ŽKK Jedinstvo Tuzla 1990 National basketball team (13) National basketball team (3)
1990–present