Minister Bozinovic handed contract on CAF service to Snjezana Pejcic

Minister of Defence Davor Bozinovic welcomed athlete Snjezana Pejcic to the Ministry of Defence and Croatian Armed Forces, emphasizing that the Agreement on cooperation, promotion and development of sport in Croatia between the MOD and the Croatian Olympic Committee, which among other things, provides the possibility of employing top and categorized athletes in the MOD and CAF, on the wellbeing of the Ministry of Defence and top athletes. “With this agreement the Ministry of Defence will enable top athlete Snjezana Pejcic, within its capabilities as a state institution, the conditions for normal training. The Ministry is proud that Snjezana Pejcic as bearer of the Olympic medals in shooting competitions will represent the MOD and the Croatian Armed Forces especially since the shooting as a sport discipline arose from the armed forces”, Minister Bozinovic said. He also pointed out that admission to the active military service in the CAF of this top athlete had its real value since Snjezana will serve as an instructor in rifle shooting for members of the Croatian Armed Forces.

“To attend one such event is really a great pleasure above all because the Ministry of Defence showed the sensibility and an affinity for the athletes who did great things for the Republic of Croatia through their sports results, and Snjezana Pejcic is certainly one of them”,  said Secretary General of the Croatian Olympic Committee Josip Cop. He stressed that he was confident that Snjezana will prove herself in what she does best, to the pride of the Croatian Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Defence, since shooting was one of the basic skills in the Ministry of Defence. Cop also wished her success at the Olympic Games in London that will be held 2012.

Shooter Snjezana Pejcic thanked on the given chance to the Ministry of Defence and on the admission to the active military service, saying she would try to justify that honour with her sports achievements.

Admission of Snjezana Pejcic to active military service in the CAF is based on Agreement on cooperation, promoting and development of sport in Croatia between the MOD and the Croatian Olympic Committee, which was signed on 3 September 2010 in the MOD, and which, inter alia, provides for the possibility of employing top and categorized athletes in the Defence Ministry and Croatian Armed Forces.

Snjezana Pejcic was born in Rijeka, on 13 of July 1982.

At the Beijing Olympics in the discipline of a ten-meter air rifle she won the bronze medal. It was the first Croatian medal at the Olympics in Beijing, and Snjezana entered into history as the first Croatian female athletes who won medals at the Summer Olympics.

Her first major success was at the European Junior Championships in 2002 when in Thessaloniki she won the second place. She started with shooting at the age of 15 and is a member of the Lokomotiva Club from Rijeka. She won the annual National Award for Sport “Franjo Bucar” for 2008.

At the European Championship in Prague, on 21 February 2009, she won a gold medal in the discipline air rifle 10 meters, while in the team competition, she won the silver medal. At the European Shooting Championship in Brescia, on 4 March 2011, along with Suzana Cimbal Spirelja and Sandra Vitez, she won team silver. As member of the Croatian National Shooting Team, Snjezana Pejcic won the air rifle competition (10 meters) on the World Cup in Sydney, thus being the first Croatian athlete that had qualified for the Olympics in London 2012.