Maric Lands on Croatian Olympic Roster

Cal thrower Martin Maric will be following his dreams to Beijing with a discus in hand.

Maric, a rising senior at Cal, earned a spot on the Croatian Olympic roster Tuesday, tossing a 62.68m during team trials in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Representing his country of birth isn't something new for Maric, who took eighth in the discus at the 2007 World University Games with a mark of 56.32m.

Still, Maric said in a statement two weeks ago that the ultimate purpose of leaving Croatia for Georgia en route to Cal was to make an Olympic roster. To his credit, Maric has been steadily advancing in his Olympic endeavors, year by year.

In 2002, he tossed a 53.03m at the IAAF/Coca Cola World Junior Championships held in Kingston, Jamaica. 2003 saw the first time Maric broke the 60-mark with a 60.90m in Maribor, Slovenia. He middled around the 57-mark for the next few years and struggled to post another 60-plus toss until 2007, when he notched a personal-best of 62.04m at the Salinas Discus Meet.

Fittingly, his qualifying mark for Beijing topped them all.

Tags: