ABOUT
It was great revealing for me when I realized at one point that I got consumed by the "game". By being consumed by the game I started to lose joy and above all experience of true self. I have started to study questions I had about that process and I am happy that I have continued to do it. - Edin Branković, PhD

Edin Branković, PhD is a professional athlete, representing Bosnia and Herzegovina, he has been competing in the highest level competitions for over ten years. At the same time, he is interested in the field of motivation and personal growth, which he studies on an academic level and he published several studies. Throughout his sports and academic career, he has founded Excellence Academy which applies his findings in practice. He enjoys using technology in a way to make ideas real.
Check out Special Edition Excellence Academy Newsletter to find out more about this journey »Timeline of events
2010 - 2014
In 2010 Edin was the first person from the South-Eastern region who ranked in the top 10 on 1500m in Short Track Speed Skating in the junior category at the World Junior Championship in Taipei and he was awarded with the International Skating Union scholarship. In the upcoming years, he ranked top 15 in the World Cups and European Championship and won the gold medal in the Balkan Games. He was named by NF, NOC, and IOC for the role of Young Ambassador.
2015-2017
As a professional athlete, Edin kept setting the standards for Short Track Speed Skating in the region with repeated rankings among the top 20 athletes on 1500m in world cups and European Championships. He founded Excellence Academy in 2016, which was selected as one of the best projects in the IOC selection in the field of sports and Social Development". He published several academic studies in the field of educational psychology, methodology, and sports sciences related to motivation as a way to find answers to the questions he looked for.
2018-2021
After devoted training and a strong Olympic qualifying event, Edin ranked on the standby list and he was invited directly by the IOC President to be the special guest of the Olympic Games 2018. In 2018, Excellence Academy was selected as one best projects again in the IOC selection and Edin presented Academy at the IOC events in Buenos Aires and Tokyo. In 2020, he published a comprehensive study related to mental health, well-being, and their relationship to success, which integrated psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience. In 2021, he skated his fifth semi-final at the European Championships and the same year he co-authored and published a comprehensive scientific study in the field of educational psychology and methodology of scientific work.
2022-NOW
Since 2022 he has begun to put the years of studies and wide experience in the format of lectures, courses, and writing. Besides active training and research, he teaches and consults in the fields of performance psychology and personal growth, health, and well-being. He enjoys applying these findings in content and digital marketing and putting them in the format of the IT world. In 2024 he earned PhD from the University of Zagreb, the Faculty of Teacher Education in the interdisciplinary field of science. His thesis encompasses the practical program that positively affects motivation and positive psychological states. It approaches the problem from the stances of philosophy, kinesiology, educational psychology, and complex research methodology. Because the study belongs to the fundamental research, the results have positive implications in education, sports (professional and recreational), professional development such as business and management performance psychology as well as in the everyday quest for well-being and maintaining positive psychological states.
Read more about Edin's work and achievements in the Special Edition Newsletter THE ONE
VIEW THE NEWSLETTER


Achievements in three fields over the years
Sports Achievements
• Olympic Games Invitee 2018 (PyeongChang)
• Top 10 1500m World Junior Championship 2010 (Taipei)
• World Cup 1500m Finalist 2011 (Dresden)
• 6 times 1500m European Champion Semifinalist
• 5 times 1500m World Cup Semifinalist
• Gold Medal Overall Balkan Games 2014 (Celje)
• Bronze Medal 1500m Balkan Games 2013 (Izmit)
National records:
1.500m: 2:15.304
3.000m: 5:06.085
Academic & Professional Achievements
• PhD interdisciplinary field of science, Faculty of Teacher Education (University of Zagreb)
• Post Graduate Academy BEGOC 2015 - Management (Baku)
• M.Sc. Faculty of Sport and Physical Education (University in Sarajevo)
• Bch Faculty of Sport and Physical Education (University in Sarajevo)
• Young Ambassador IOC 2012, 2014
• Young Leader IOC Alumni 2018
• BH Telecom Award for the Best Business Partner in 2011.
Scientific Publications
Branković, E. (2022). Living an Olympic Dream: Between Philosophy and Neuroscience. In Škerbić. Matija M. (Ed.),3rd International Conference Ethics, Bioethics and Sport (pp. 24), Zagreb: Croatian Philosophical Society.
Branković, E. and Badrić, M. (2021). The Preliminary Validation of Holistic Experience of Motivation Scale (HEMS): An Empirico - Philosophical Approach. Croatian Journal of Education. 23 (1), 11-30.
Branković, E. (2020). Sports, Mental Health, and the Dilemmas of Fame and Success: In a Search of a Holistic Paradigm. Pannoniana, 4(1), 9-33.
Branković, E. and Badrić, M. (2020b). Experiences of Intrinsic Motivation: A Qualitative Study on Adolescent Experiences. In A. Peko, M. Ivanuš Grmek, & J. Delcheva Dizarevikj (Eds.), Didactic Challenges III – Didactic Retrospective and Perspective WHERE/HOW DO WE GO FROM HERE?, Conference Proceedings (pp. 310-319). Osijek: Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Education.
Branković, E., Hadzikadunić, M., and Mijanović, M. (2017). Intrinsic Motivation and Autotelic Activity in Students. Kinesiologia Slovenica, 23 (1), 14-24.
Branković, E. and Hadzikadunić, M. (2017). Physical Education Experimental Program to Test the Effect on Perceived Competence. Sport Mont 15 (2), 25–30.

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