Ilija Lupulesku
| Ilija Lupulesku | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Ilija Lupulesku |
| Nationality |
 Yugoslavia Yugoslavia United States
|
| Born |
October 30, 1967 Uzdin, Serbia, Yugoslavia |
| Playing style | Left-handed |
| Height | 5'11" |
Ilija Lupulesku (born October 30, 1967 in Uzdin) is a former Serbian-Yugoslav and later Americantable tennis player who competed in the 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and in the 2004 Summer Olympics. He became a naturalized American citizen in 2002 and competed for the United States from 2004 to 2006 including 2004 Summer Olympics. Ilija Lupulesku played his first game of table tennis at age nine in his small hometown of Uzdin, Yugoslavia. After seeing other children playing at his local school, he picked up a paddle and began what would become his life's ambition. Despite his love and talent for soccer, Lupulesku, under the watchful eye of first coach Jon Bosika, committed himself to training and by age 14 was the top player on the Yugoslavian Junior National Table Tennis Team. Over the next 12 years, he would rise through the ranks of the world's best players and become one of the largest sport celebrities in his native Yugoslavia.
In 1988 he won the Seoul Olympic silver medal in the men's doubles together with Croatian Zoran Primorac. In 1991 regarded as one of the best players in the sport and also made up one-half of what many at the time called the greatest doubles team ever. Between 1989 and 1991, Lupulesku and doubles mate Primorac reached the semifinals or finals of every major tournament in the world. But by the end of 1991, war ripped through the region and the Croatian Primorac and Yugoslavian Lupulesku were no longer permitted to play together. While Primorac moved on to live and play in Belgium, Lupulesku remained in FR Yugoslavia and joined the military, where he continued to train.
A year later he competed as an Independent Olympic Participant but was eliminated in the first round in singles and in the quarterfinals in doubles. In 1996 and 2000 he competed for FR Yugoslavia and in 2004 he participated for the United States. He thus competed under four different flags, a label shared by Serbian shooter Jasna Šekarić.
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