Matija Ljubek (; 22 November 1953 – 11 October 2000) was a Croatian sprint canoeist who competed in the 1970s and 1980s and later became a sports official.
Born in Belišće, Osijek-Baranja, Ljubek competed in four Summer Olympics where he won four medals. This included two golds (C-1 1000 m: 1976, C-2 500 m: 1984 with Mirko Nišović), one silver (C-2 1000 m: 1984 with Mirko Nišović), and one bronze (C-1 500 m: 1976). His trainer was Laszlo Hingl. He also won ten medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with four golds (C-1 1000 m: 1978, C-2 500 m: 1982, 1983; C-2 10000 m: 1985), three silvers (C-1 10000 m: 1981, C-2 1000 m: 1982, 1985), and three bronzes (C-1 10000 m: 1975, 1978; C-2 1000 m: 1983).
In 1976 he was awarded a Golden Badge award for best athlete of Yugoslavia.
Ljubek later became vice-president of the Croatian Olympic Committee and served as chef de mission for the Croatian Olympic team.
Ljubek died in 2000 when he was shot by an estranged brother-in-law while trying to defend his mother in Valpovo, Osijek-Baranja, six days after returning from the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Olympic results
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
!colspan=5|Olympic results
|-
!Event
!width="120"|1976 Montreal
!width="120"|1980 Moscow
!width="120"|1984 Los Angeles
!width="120"|1988 Seoul
|-
|align=left|C-1 500 m
|16px 3rd
|style="background: #ccffcc"|9th
|
|
|-
|align=left|C-1 1000 m
|16px 1st
|style="background: #ccffcc"|8th
|
|
|-
|align=left|C-2 500 m
|
|
|16px 1st
|
|-
|align=left|C-2 1000 m
|
|style="background: #ccffcc"|4th
|16px 2nd
|12th
|}
References
- Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2008). "Canoeing: Men's Canadian Singles 1000 Meters". In The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 480.