Ivano Balić (pronounced [ǐʋano bǎːlitɕ, - bǎ-]; born 1 April 1979) is a Croatian former professional handballer who is currently part of the coaching staff at RK Split.

[1] Renowned for his speed, creativity, movement and charisma as a player, Balić won the 2003 World Championship and the Olympic gold medal in 2004 with the Croatian national team, and thirteen titles playing for clubs in Croatia, Spain and Germany.

[7] Born in Split, Ivano was the only child of handball players, mother Stjepanka and father Žarko Balić.

[8] Balić began his senior handball career with RK Brodomerkur Split in 1997, which competed in the top-tier Croatian First A League.

He was forced to leave the club after one season as it went through bankruptcy, but won the IHF Super Globe and Copa del Rey with the team, in addition to finishing second in the league championship.

[13] On 5 June 2015, Balić played his last professional handball game in a 29–24 win against Göppingen, in which he scored one goal and made five assists.

In training, Balić sustained an injury trying to catch a reflected ball which caused Petar Metličić to fall on his foot and rupture his ligaments.

[15] Balić made his debut for the senior national team at the 2001 Mediterranean Games in Tunisia where Croatia won first place.

Although they finished last in the tournament, they shocked the world a year later at the 2003 World Championship in Portugal where they won first place; after losing their opening match against Argentina (29–30), they beat Saudi Arabia, Russia, France, Hungary, Egypt, Denmark, Spain, and lastly Germany in the final.

The Croatian team had a good start in the group stage beating Spain and Denmark, and conceding a draw against Portugal.

The team reached he semi-finals where they lost against hosts Slovenia and finished fourth after losing to Denmark in a third place game.

In August of that same year, Balić was selected to play at the 2004 Summer Olympics where the national team won the gold medal.

At the 2007 World Championship in Germany, Croatia came in fifth place, with Balić being voted MVP for a fifth consecutive major international tournament.

Balić was also voted best centre back and was joint top goalscorer alongside Nikola Karabatić and Lars Christiansen with 44 goals.

Prior to the 2013 World Championship in Spain, Balić was dropped from the squad by then-head coach Slavko Goluža and subsequently retired from the national team.