Franjo Mihalić
Franjo Mihalić (9 March 1920 – 14 February 2015) was a Yugoslav and Croatian long-distance runner. He is best known for winning the 1958 Boston Marathon and for winning the marathon silver medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
Mihalić mostly ran marathons, road races and cross country, and set many Croatian and Yugoslav records in events from 5,000 to 25,000 meters. In 1957 he became the first winner of the Golden Badge, Yugoslavia’s top sports award.
He was born in Ludina, Croatia, and moved to Zagreb as a child. He started sport at age 10, first in cycling, then switched to athletics after a 1940 cross country race where he finished near the front. He joined the Concordia Zagreb club and soon set national records in the 5,000m and 10,000m. During World War II he competed for the Independent State of Croatia and later joined Partizan in Belgrade after the war, settling there with his family.
Key achievements include a silver medal in the 10,000m at the 1951 Mediterranean Games, becoming world cross country champion in 1953, and wins at the Saint Silvester Road Race (1952 and 1954) and Cinque Mulini (1957, 1958, 1961). He also won the 1958 Boston Marathon in hot weather and finished 12th in the marathon at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He set a marathon personal best of about 2:21:24.
Mihalić retired from competition in 1966 after winning the Kadinjača mini-marathon in Užice. He stayed active in sport, worked as a coach in Belgrade, and walked daily into his late 80s. He died in Belgrade in 2015 at age 94. He is remembered as one of the most successful Croatian, Serbian and Yugoslav track and field athletes.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 21:54 (CET).