Sreten Stefanović

Sreten Stefanović was only six years old when he joined the Belgrade “Soko” organization and took up gymnastics. Despite this early start, World War II prevented him from attending the Olympics until 1952, where he was part of a Yugoslavian team that placed 19th in the all-around. Individually, his best finish was joint-67th in the rings (with Ahmed Allam of Egypt). Domestically, he was a seven-time national champion from 1947 to 1954 and was only not selected for the 1948 London Games for political reasons. He did, however, take part in the 1950 World Championships with the Yugoslavian team and retired in 1954 due to injury. In February 2017, at the age of 101, his life story, including his time as a soldier during World War II, a gymnastics administrator, and a pedagogue, was featured in a Serbian documentary.