Johannes Bitter (born 2 September 1982) is a German

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

goalkeeper for

HSV Hamburg Handball Sport Verein Hamburg is a handball club from Germany, located in Hamburg. Currently, Handball Hamburg competes in the Handball-Bundesliga. The full name in German is ''Handball Sport Verein Hamburg e.V.'' but the club has traditionally b ...

Club career

Bitter started his senior career with SG VTB Altjührden in 1999, before moving to

Wilhelmshavener HV Wilhelmshavener HV is a handball club from Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Currently, they compete in the 3. Liga. The club has oscillated between the third division and the top tier throughout its history. In September 2020 the managing director of W ...

three years later. After only one season in Wilhelmshaven, he signed with

SC Magdeburg SC Magdeburg is a handball club from Magdeburg, Germany, and is competing in the Handball-Bundesliga. History During the time in the GDR, the club won 10 national championships (1970, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1991) an ...

in 2003, with whom he won the

EHF Cup The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previ ...

. Following that success, Bitter eventually moved to

in the summer of 2007. In 2016 Bitter moved from Hamburg to TVB 1898 Stuttgart. There, he has extended his contract by one year to stay with the club until 30 June 2018.

International career

Bitter made his debut for the German national team on 4 January 2002 in

Balingen Balingen (; Swabian: ''Balenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, capital of the district of Zollernalbkreis. It is located near the Swabian Jura, approx. 35 km to the south of Tübingen, 35 km northeast of Villingen-Schwenn ...

against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He is World champion from 2007 with Germany. He participated on the German team that finished 4th at the

2008 European Men's Handball Championship The 2008 EHF European Men's Handball Championship (8th tournament) was held in Norway from 17 to 27 January, in the cities of Bergen, Drammen, Lillehammer, Stavanger and Trondheim. Denmark men's national handball team, Denmark won the tournament ...

."Germany"
– ''European Handbal Federation (2008)'' (Retrieved on 5 February 2008) Bitter represented Germany at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing, China } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. After the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, he announced that he would not be participating in the national team again unless there was an emergency.

References

External links

* 1982 births Living people German male handball players Handball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players of Germany Sportspeople from Hamburg Handball-Bundesliga players Handball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics SC Magdeburg players {{Germany-handball-bio-stub