Andro Bušlje

Andro Bušlje
Personal information
Born	(1986-01-04) 4 January 1986 (age 38) Dubrovnik, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Croatian
Height	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight	115 kg (254 lb)
Position	Centre back
Handedness	Right
Club information
Current team	Olympiacos
Senior clubs
Years	Team
2004–2015	Jug Dubrovnik
2015–2016	Posillipo
2016–2019	Olympiacos
2019–2020	Pro Recco
2020–2021	Mladost
2021–	Olympiacos
National team
Years	Team
2005–2022	Croatia
Medal record Men's water polo Representing  Croatia Olympic Games 2012 London Team 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team World Championship 2007 Melbourne Team 2017 Budapest Team 2015 Kazan Team 2009 Rome Team 2011 Shanghai Team 2013 Barcelona Team 2019 Gwanjgu Team European Championship 2010 Zagreb 2018 Barcelona World Cup 2010 Oradea 2014 Kazakhstan FINA World League 2012 Almaty 2009 Podgorica 2019 Belgrade 2015 Bergamo 2010 Niš 2011 Florence 2017 Ruza Mediterranean Games 2013 Mersin Team

Andro Bušlje (born 4 January 1986) is a Croatian water polo player who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics.^[1] At the 2012 Summer Olympics he was part of the Croatian team that won the gold medal.^[1] He is right-handed and plays the center defender position. From 2016 to 2019 he played for Greek powerhouse Olympiacos, with whom he won the 2017–18 LEN Champions League.^[2][3] He started playing water polo at the age of 12, and he made his national team debut in 2005. Bušlje is one of the top defenders in the world.

Bušlje is currently the captain of the Croatia national team, with whom he has become Olympic gold medalist, 2 times World Champion and European Champion. He is the only water polo player in the world to have won 7 FINA World Championship medals (2 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze), an all-time record as of 2017

Bušlje was given the honour to carry the national flag of Croatia at the closing ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo,^[4] becoming the 29th water polo player to be a flag bearer at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics.

Honours

Club

Jug Dubrovnik

• LEN Champions League: 2005–06 ;runners-up: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2012–13
• LEN Super Cup: 2006
• Croatian Championship: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13
• Croatian Cup: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
• Adriatic League: 2008–09

Olympiacos

• LEN Champions League: 2017–18 ;runners-up: 2018–19
• Greek Championship: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
• Greek Cup: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
• Greek Super Cup: 2018

Mladost

• Croatian Championship: 2020–21
• Croatian Cup: 2020–21

Individual

• Member of the World Team by total-waterpolo 2017^[5]
• LEN Champions League Defender of the Year: 2017–18, 2018–19
• Croatian Water Polo Player of the Year: 2018^[6]
• Adriatic League Defender of the Year: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14
• Serie A1 Defender of the Year: 2015–16
• Croatian Championship MVP: 2009–10, 2020–21
• Croatian Championship Defender of the Year: 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2020–21
• Greek Championship Defender of the Year: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19

See also

• Croatia men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics
• List of Olympic champions in men's water polo
• List of Olympic medalists in water polo (men)
• List of flag bearers for Croatia at the Olympics
• List of world champions in men's water polo
• List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo
• 2017–18 Croatian "Athlete of the Year "
• fifth best player in the world: 2018
• Croatian Championship MVP 2020–21

References

1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Andro Bušlje". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
2. Olympiacos is back to the Olympos after 16 years. LEN official website. 9 June 2018.
3. Πρωταθλητής Ευρώπης ο Ολυμπιακός στο πόλο Archived 2018-07-20 at the Wayback Machine. Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation. (in Greek)
4. "List of flagbearers for the 205 NOCs and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team" (PDF). olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
5. "Sandro Sukno - Winner of the TOTAL PLAYER 2017 AWARD". total-waterpolo.
6. "Dočekao priznanje: Joković u 33. godini osvojio Sikiricu! Zapjevala i Rozga". www.vecernji.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2022-03-06.

External links

• Andro Bušlje at World Aquatics
• Andro Bušlje at Olympics.com
• Andro Bušlje at Olympedia (archive)
• Andro Bušlje at the Croatian Olympic Committee (in Croatian) (archived)

Sporting positions
Preceded by Sandro Sukno	Croatia captain 2017–	Succeeded by Incumbent