What no one else had ever achieved in long jump was accomplished by the magnificent Nenad Stekić, who ranked first on the world lists for five consecutive years during the 1970s. The record he set remains unbroken by any Yugoslav athlete to this day.
As a child, he used to jump over clotheslines at his grandmother’s house in Sremska Mitrovica, and when he began competing, he quickly made a series of promising results. He stepped onto the athletic track at the age of 12, and by 14, he had already achieved notable results. He started as a high jumper, breaking junior records in Serbia, and was predicted to have a brilliant career in high jump. However, Nenad injured his knee and doctors advised him not to jump for half a year.
Then, his high school friends and gym teacher persuaded him to try long jump, as there were no candidates for the school competition. His injury did not affect him because the take-off angle in long jump is different from high jump. He went to the competition and jumped 6.73 meters! The distances continued to grow from competition to competition. Records, now in long jump, began to fall effortlessly, and Nenad decided to focus on long jump for his career.
As a member of AK Crvena Zvezda, he made history as the first white man to jump 8 meters and 45 centimeters in long jump. Additionally, he crossed the magical 8-meter mark a remarkable 144 times, a feat still unmatched by anyone. Besides numerous victories at the world’s most prestigious track and field events, Nenad Stekić won three silver medals at European Championships, two at the Mediterranean Games, and a gold and silver medal at the Universiade.
He passed away on July 18, 2021, in Belgrade at the age of 70.
