Croatian para table tennis player (born 1979)
Helena Dretar Karić (born 28 November 1979) is a Croatian para table tennis player who competes in the C3 category.
Background
Dretar Karić was born in Varaždin on 28 November 1979. She was a talented handball player, who was hit by a car as a pedestrian at the age of 17 and has been in a wheelchair ever since.[1] While recuperating in Varaždinske Toplice, she met the Croatian Paralympic table tennis team, and after that, she started playing the sport more intensively in 2008. She played in several clubs, mostly in the Zagreb club STKOI "Uriho".[2]
Career
Together with Anđela Mužinić, Dretar Karić won numerous medals, including medals at the Paralympic Games (2016, 2020), at the World Championships (2014, 2017) and at the European Championships, of which five were gold at the European Championships (2013–2023) and one bronze (2011).[1] At the 2016 Summer Paralympics, Dretar Karić won silver in a pair with Muzinić. Four years later, at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, they won bronze.[3][4]
Awards and honors
Dretar Karić received the "Franjo Bučar" State Sports Award and the Order of the Croatian Danica with the image of Franjo Bučar. As part of the Croatian Paralympic table tennis team, she received the Sportske novosti award in 2015 and 2021, in the category of women's team of the year.[5]
References
