Serbia at the 2016 Summer Olympics

The Olympic Committee of Serbia fielded a team of 103 athletes, 58 men and 45 women, across fourteen sports at the Games. It was the nation's second-largest delegation sent to the Olympics, falling short of the record for the most number of athletes (116) achieved in London four years earlier by nearly 12 percent.[6] Serbia qualified teams in men's water polo and women's volleyball, as well as both the men's and women's basketball for the first time in its Olympic history.

After the Rio Olympics, Serbia men's national water polo team held Olympic Games, World Championship, European Championship, World Cup and World League titles simultaneously

Traditional collective sports accounted for nearly half of the nation's roster, amassing a combined total of 49 athletes. By individual-based sport, however, track and field constituted the largest percentage of athletes on the Serbian team, with 12 entries. There was a single competitor each in road cycling, mountain biking, judo, and table tennis.

Highlighting the list of Serbian athletes were Beijing 2008 bronze medalist Novak Djokovic, who entered the Games as the world's top-ranked tennis player in the men's singles, and taekwondo fighter Milica Mandić, who became the country's first ever Olympic champion in London four years earlier. Rifle shooting legend Stevan Pletikosić, who officially made his sixth Olympic appearance, topped the nation's roster lineup as the oldest and most experienced competitor (aged 43). Meanwhile, Pletikosic's female counterpart Ivana Anđušić Maksimović, who followed her father Goran's sporting legacy to win a silver medal in the small-bore rifle at London 2012, acted as the flag bearer for the Serbian team in the opening ceremony.[1]

Other notable athletes on the Serbian roster included long jumper and European outdoor champion Ivana Španović, pistol shooters Zorana Arunović (European Games gold medalist) and Andrea Arsović (European champion and world's top-ranked), freestyle swimmer and London 2012 finalist Velimir Stjepanović, water polo team captain Živko Gocić, and basketballers Miloš Teodosić (team captain and EuroLeague champion), Nikola Jokić (who currently played for NBA's Denver Nuggets) and Ana Dabović (WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks and EuroBasket MVP).

The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games:

Ivana Španović won first Olympic medal in athletics for Serbia

Serbian athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):[7][8]

Track & road events

Men

Women

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Asmir Kolašinac	Men's shot put	20.16	15	Did not advance
Ivana Španović	Women's long jump	6.87	1 Q	7.08 NR
Dragana Tomašević	Women's discus throw	57.67	19	Did not advance

Combined events – Men's decathlon

Serbia has qualified one judoka for the men's middleweight category (90 kg) at the Games. Aleksander Kukolj was directly ranked among the top 22 eligible judokas for men in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016.[15]

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Aleksandar Kukolj	Men's −90 kg	Bye	Žgank (SLO) W 100–000	Baker (JPN) L 000–100	Did not advance

Serbia has qualified two boats for each of the following rowing classes into the Olympic regatta. One rowing crew had confirmed Olympic place for their boat in the men's pair at the 2015 FISA World Championships in Lac d'Aiguebelette, France, while the men's double sculls rowers had added one more boat to the Serbian roster as a result of their top two finish at the 2016 European & Final Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Serbian shooters have achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2014 ISSF World Shooting Championships, the 2015 ISSF World Cup series, and European Championships or Games, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) by 31 March 2016.[16]

The entire shooting squad was named to the Serbian roster for the Games on 6 July 2016, with rifle specialist Stevan Pletikosić becoming the first male shooter to compete at his sixth Olympics. Notable absence in the roster was pistol legend Jasna Šekarić, who bid to establish a historic milestone as one of the first female athletes, alongside Georgian shooter Nino Salukvadze to appear in eight editions of the Games.[17]

Men

Women

Serbian swimmers have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):[18][19]

Serbia has entered one athlete into the table tennis competition at the Games. Aleksandar Karakašević granted an invitation from ITTF to compete in the men's singles as one of the next seven highest-ranked eligible players, not yet qualified, on the Olympic Ranking List.[20]

Athlete	Event	Preliminary	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Aleksandar Karakašević	Men's singles	Yan (AUS) W 4–2	Drinkhall (GBR) L 1–4	Did not advance

Tijana Bogdanović (left) with Women's −49 kg medalist

Serbia entered two athletes into the taekwondo competition at the Olympics. Reigning Olympic champion Milica Mandić qualified automatically for the women's heavyweight category (+67 kg) by finishing in the top 6 WTF Olympic rankings.[21] 2015 European Games silver medalist Tijana Bogdanović secured the remaining spot on the Serbian team by virtue of her top two finish in the women's flyweight category (49 kg) at the 2016 European Qualification Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey.[22]

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Tijana Bogdanović	Women's −49 kg	Abakarova (AZE) W 3–2	Wu Jy (CHN) W 17–7	Manjarrez (MEX) W 10–0	Bye	Kim S-h (KOR) L 6–7
Milica Mandić	Women's +67 kg	Skaar (NOR) W 8–2	Walkden (GBR) L 0–5	Did not advance

Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjić in the second round of Men's doubles.

Serbia has entered six tennis players (three men and three women) into the Olympic tournament. Beijing 2008 bronze medalist and world no. 1 seed Novak Djokovic and London 2012 Olympian Viktor Troicki (world no. 21) qualified directly for the men's singles as three of the top 56 eligible players in the ATP World Rankings, while Ana Ivanovic (world no. 25) and three-time Olympian Jelena Janković (world no. 24) did so for the women's singles based on their WTA World Rankings as of 6 June 2016.

Having been directly entered to the singles, Djokovic and Janković also opted to play with their partners Nenad Zimonjić and Aleksandra Krunić, respectively, in the men's and women's doubles.[23][24]

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Novak Djokovic	Men's singles	del Potro (ARG) L 6–7(4–7), 6–7(2–7)	Did not advance
Viktor Troicki		A Murray (GBR) L 3–6, 2–6	Did not advance
Novak Djokovic Nenad Zimonjić	Men's doubles	—	Čilić / Draganja (CRO) W 6–2, 6–2	Melo / Soares (BRA) L 4–6, 4–6	Did not advance
Ana Ivanovic	Women's singles	Suárez Navarro (ESP) L 6–2, 1–6, 2–6	Did not advance
Jelena Janković		Withdrew on 7 August due to pectoralis injury
Aleksandra Krunić		Mladenovic (FRA) L 1–6, 4–6	Did not advance
Jelena Janković Aleksandra Krunić	Women's doubles	—	Konta / Watson (GBR) L 2–6, 1–6	Did not advance

Serbia men's national water polo team celebrates after the gold medal match

Summary

Team	Event	Group Stage						Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Serbia men's	Men's tournament	Hungary D 13–13	Greece D 9–9	Brazil L 5–6	Australia W 10–8	Japan W 12–8	4	Spain W 10–7	Italy W 10–8	Croatia W 11–7

Men's tournament

Main article: Water polo at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

The Serbian men's water polo team qualified for the Olympics by winning the 2015 FINA World League Super Final in Italy.[28]

Team roster

The following is the Serbian roster in the men's water polo tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics.[29]

Head coach: Dejan Savić

SRB – Serbia (as of 5 August 2016)

No.	Player	Pos.	L/R	Height	Weight	Date of birth (age)	Apps	Club
1	Gojko Pijetlović	10GK	4B	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	92 kg (203 lb)	(1983-08-07)7 August 1983 (aged 32)	198	CSM Digi Oradea
2	Dušan Mandić	50D	1L	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	105 kg (231 lb)	(1994-06-16)16 June 1994 (aged 22)	111	Pro Recco
3	Živko Gocić (C)	20CB	2R	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	(1982-08-22)22 August 1982 (aged 33)	353	Szolnoki Vízilabda SC
4	Sava Ranđelović	20CB	2R	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	98 kg (216 lb)	(1993-07-17)17 July 1993 (aged 23)	82	AN Brescia
5	Miloš Ćuk	50D	2R	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(1990-12-21)21 December 1990 (aged 25)	124	Egri VK
6	Duško Pijetlović	40CF	2R	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)	97 kg (214 lb)	(1985-04-25)25 April 1985 (aged 31)	261	Pro Recco
7	Slobodan Nikić	40CF	2R	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)	106 kg (234 lb)	(1983-01-25)25 January 1983 (aged 33)	346	Galatasaray S.K.
8	Milan Aleksić	20CB	2R	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	96 kg (212 lb)	(1986-05-13)13 May 1986 (aged 30)	202	Szolnoki Vízilabda SC
9	Nikola Jakšić	20CB	2R	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	(1997-01-17)17 January 1997 (aged 19)	48	VK Partizan
10	Filip Filipović	50D	1L	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	101 kg (223 lb)	(1987-05-02)2 May 1987 (aged 29)	297	Pro Recco
11	Andrija Prlainović	50D	2R	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	(1987-04-28)28 April 1987 (aged 29)	271	Szolnoki Vízilabda SC
12	Nenad Mitrović	50D	2R	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	(1988-03-29)29 March 1988 (aged 28)	198	Szolnoki Vízilabda SC
13	Branislav Mitrović	10GK	4B	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	100 kg (220 lb)	(1985-01-30)30 January 1985 (aged 31)	119	Egri VK
Average				1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	96 kg (212 lb)	28 years, 190 days	201

Group play

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Hungary	5	2	3	0	57	43	+14	7	Quarter-finals
2	Greece	5	2	2	1	41	40	+1	6
3	Brazil (H)	5	3	0	2	40	39	+1	6
4	Serbia	5	2	2	1	49	44	+5	6
5	Australia	5	2	1	2	44	40	+4	5
6	Japan	5	0	0	5	36	61	−25	0

Source: Rio2016
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference.
(H) Hosts

6 August 2016 09:00	Report	Serbia	13–13	Hungary	Maria Lenk Aquatic Center, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Radosław Koryzna (POL)
		Score by quarters: 3–5, 3–4, 3–2, 4–2
		Filipović 3	Goals	Hosnyánszky 3

---

8 August 2016 09:00	Report	Serbia	9–9	Greece	Maria Lenk Aquatic Center, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Mark Koganov (AZE), Joseph Peila (USA)
		Score by quarters: 1–2, 0–2, 4–3, 4–2
		Filipović 2	Goals	Fountoulis 4

---

10 August 2016 19:30	Report	Brazil	6–5	Serbia	Maria Lenk Aquatic Center, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Benjamin Mercier (FRA), Ni Shi Wei (CHN)
		Score by quarters: 0–2, 3–1, 2–0, 1–2
		Vrlić 2	Goals	five players 1

---

12 August 2016 22:10	Report	Serbia	10–8	Australia	Maria Lenk Aquatic Center, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Francesc Buch (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 2–3, 2–1, 4–2
		three players 2	Goals	Cotterill 2

---

14 August 2016 19:30	Report	Serbia	12–8	Japan	Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Nenad Peris (CRO), Benjamin Mercier (FRA)
		Score by quarters: 2–5, 3–0, 4–2, 3–1
		Filipović 6	Goals	Takei 5

Quarterfinal

16 August 2016 12:20	Report	Serbia	10–7	Spain	Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Radosław Koryzna (POL), Daniel Flahive (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 3–1, 4–2, 0–2, 3–2
		Mandić 4	Goals	Molina 3

Semifinal

18 August 2016 16:30	Report	Italy	8–10	Serbia	Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Daniel Flahive (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 0–3, 2–3, 0–1, 6–3
		three players 2	Goals	three players 2

Gold medal match

20 August 2016 17:50	Report	Croatia	7–11	Serbia	Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Rio de Janeiro Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Péter Molnár (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 1–3, 2–3, 2–2
		Sukno 3	Goals	Mandić 4

Kristijan Fris in the first round of the men's Greco-Roman 59 kg.

Serbia has qualified three wrestlers for each the following weight classes into the Olympic competition. One of them finished among the top six to secure an Olympic spot in the men's Greco-Roman 66 kg at the 2015 World Championships, while two more Olympic places were awarded to Serbian wrestlers, who progressed to the top two finals at the 2016 European Qualification Tournament.[30]

Men's Greco-Roman

Athlete	Event	Qualification	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Kristijan Fris	−59 kg	Bye	Tasmuradov (UZB) L 1–3 PP	Did not advance					13
Davor Štefanek	−66 kg	Bye	Inoue (JPN) W 4–0 ST	Stäbler (GER) W 3–1 PP	Bolkvadze (GEO) W 5–0 VT	Bye		Arutyunyan (ARM) W 3–1 PP
Viktor Nemeš	−75 kg	Bye	Turdiev (UZB) W 3–1 PP	Madsen (DEN) L 0–3 PO	Did not advance	Bye	Abdevali (IRI) L 1–3 PP	Did not advance	8

Because of Albanian boycotts after the breakup of Yugoslavia, only Serbs from Kosovo participated as part of Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia at the Olympics. On 17 February 2008 Kosovo's Parliament declared independence from Serbia, but Serbia doesn't recognize it and considers it its southern province.[31] On 9 December 2014 the International Olympic Committee recognized the Olympic Committee of Kosovo therefore Kosovo is a participant at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[32]

In reaction to the decision of the International Olympic Committee to accept Kosovo as a full member, Vlade Divac said that the Serbian Olympic Committee did all they could while foreign minister Ivica Dačić and minister of sports Vanja Udovičić expressed disapproval, with Divac adding there would be no boycott of the games.[33][34] Prior to the Rio 2016 opening ceremony, Udovičić advised Serbian athletes to withdraw themselves from any medal ceremonies if they have to share the podium with athletes from Kosovo.[35] Some athletes from Kosovo, such as volleyball player Milena Rašić and basketball player Marko Simonović, participated as part of the Serbian team and both of them won medals.

• Serbia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Serbia at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

• Olympic Committee of Serbia
• Serbia at the 2016 Summer Olympics at SR/Olympics (archived)