European Athletics is very saddened to hear of the death of two-time European 800m champion Vera Nikolic at the age of 72 on Monday (28).
Nikolic was one of the early standard bearers of the event in the late 1960s. She won the European 800m title in 1966 at the age of 17 and five years later in 1971. Fifty years later and Nikolic remains one of only two women to have won multiple European titles at the distance.
Nikolic held the world record with her time of 2:00.5 which she set when competing as a guest at the 1968 British Championships. Her time stood as a world record for three years although she couldn’t convert this record-breaking form into an Olympic medal in Mexico City where she retired in the semifinals.
Four years later Nikolic represented Yugoslavia again at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. She broke the 2:00 minute-barrier for the first time in the heats with 1:59.62 before finishing fifth in the final in 1:59.98 which was won by West Germany’s Hildegard Falck, Nikolic’s successor as world record-holder.
In addition to her success on the global stage, Nikolic won multiple titles at the Balkan Championships and Mediterranean Games at 400m, 800m and 1500m.
Following her competitive career, Nikolic went on to work as a coach and received many awards in recognition of her achievements.