First Olympic gold

In Atlanta, Croatia won two Olympic medals: silver in water polo and gold in handball. The Croatian handball players triumphed in the final against Sweden, bringing Croatia its first gold medal as an independent nation. It was the first time that the Croatian anthem "Lijepa naša domovino" was played at the Olympic Games. In total, the Croatian delegation included 84 athletes who competed in 14 disciplines (athletics, boxing, wrestling, gymnastics, sailing, canoeing, basketball, swimming, handball, table tennis, shooting, tennis, water polo, and rowing).

1996

3 December

Photo: HMDCDR / Božo Biškupić

President Tuđman's historic visit to Vukovar

If the majority of Croatian occupied territory was liberated during Operation Storm in August 1995, this was not the case with Eastern Slavonia, the border region divided from Serbia by the Danube. Under the November 1995 Erdut Agreement, negotiated between the Croatian and Serbian presidents in Dayton and subsequently signed by Zagreb and the separatist Serbs, the UN Security Council established a Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) with a mandate to achieve the return of displaced persons of that region under Croatian sovereignty within two years. This was the context in which President Tuđman made the first, historic trip to the heroic town of Vukovar, a symbol of Croatian resistance and the centre of this region, the last missing part of the national territory before the full reunification of the country. (Photo: second visit of the Croatian President to Vukovar, 8 June 1997, when he took the "Peace Train".)