Nationality Yugoslavia | Name Zarko Dolinar | |
 | ||
Died 9 March 2003 (aged 82)
Basel, Switzerland | ||
Stolnoteniski turnir arko dolinar u koprivnici
Žarko Dolinar (3 July 1920 – 9 March 2003), Ph.D., was a biologist and table tennis player who won eight medals at the World Table Tennis Championships.
Contents
He was born in a family of Slovene economic immigrants to Croatia. In 1939, at the age of 18 he became the national champion of Yugoslavia. Dolinar was champion of the Independent State of Croatia multiple times, and also competed for its national team on nine occasions.
Dolinar is the only world sporting champion with a doctoral degree in biology. He graduated from the University of Zagreb Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 1949, and received a doctorate in 1959. He was world doubles champion with his partner, Vilim Harangozo. Dolinar was also head of the Sports Science Committee for the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).
A university professor in both Zagreb and Basel, he was honored as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for saving, together with his brother Boris, about 300 Jews during World War II.