73-year-old invalid Croatian towerrunner competing at European Championships
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
Božidar Deodat Krešić (Photo credit: Kristijan Cimer)
73-year-old invalid Croatian towerrunner Božidar Deodat Krešić, who is a double world towerrunning record holder, will be taking part in the 4th Towerrunning European Championships in Warsaw.
The Osijek towerrunner will be the only competitor from the region competing as 13 of Europe’s best towerrunners gather to take part in the Towerrunning European Championships in Warsaw at Rondo 1 on 21 May 2022.
Competitors will be running up the 142-metre-tall Rondo 1 building, which has 38 stories and 836 steps, twice.
The European Championships are organised as a joint project of the Towerrunning World Association (TWA) and the organisers of Rondo 1 Run Up.
“We can say with certainty that the Rondo 1 Summit Run has gained the status of a cult event to which many competitors return every year,” says Piotr Jakóbik, spokesman for the competition.
Rondo 1 (Photo credit: MichalPL/CC BY-SA 4.0)
Competition at the highest level can be expected again this year and Croatia’s Božidar Deodat Krešić will be adding another chapter to his already impressive career.
“Božidar Deodat Krešić is a philanthropist, a member of the Franciscan Secular Order and the Christian Humanitarian Association Paths of Grace, and for his sports career he is grateful to his friend Bartol Šimić, without whom, as he says, he would not be at the championship. He feels the invitation to the European Championship is as an incentive, and at the same time great recognition for his work so far,” the Towerrunning Croatia Association said.
Božidar Deodat Krešić
What makes Božidar’s feats even more impressive, apart from the extreme fitness for his age, was the fact that he was born with spinal and leg injuries.
Several surgeries growing saw him wheelchair-bound, but he was able to achieve a full recovery. Božidar says that he would not be able to achieve his success without the support of his wife Mara.
Božidar set the tower running – singular stairing – world record in December 2020, breaking his own record when he ran up 448 floors – 6,720 stairs – of the business centre building on Slobode Square in Osijek. He achieved the result in 2 hours and 56 minutes and 40 seconds.
