Éric Amalou (born 1 October 1968) is a French handball player who competed at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and won bronze medals at the

1997 World Men's Handball Championship The 1997 World Men's Handball Championship was the 15th team handball World Championship. It was held in Kumamoto, Japan and was the first World Championship not played in a European country. Russia men's national handball team, Russia won the ch ...

Early life

Amalou was born on

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

and moved to

Vénissieux Vénissieux (; Arpitan language, Arpitan: or in the Lyonnais dialect) is a Communes of France, commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in eastern France. Geography Vénissieux is located on the sou ...

at the age of 3. Early in his life he also played soccer, before deciding to focus on handball aged 17.

Career

Amalou started his career at Vénissieux HB, where he won the 1992 French Championship after finishing second in both 1990 and 1991. He also won the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

in 1991 and 1992. In 1994 he joined OM Vitrolles, where he won the

in 1995. He left the team in 1996 due to the team's financial trouble. He then joined US Ivry HB. Here he won the 1997 French championship. In 1998 he joined German side

VfL Gummersbach VfL Gummersbach is a professional handball club from the German city of Gummersbach, North Rhine-Westphalia. Currently, VfL Gummersbach competes in the Handball-Bundesliga and the DHB-Pokal. The club has seen great success, especially from the ...

. After two years he joined ThSV Eisenach. In 2003 he returned to Ivry. At the end of his career he was the

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

at the Italian second division team Emmelle Naca Teramo.

National team

Amalou debuted for the French national team on 22 November 1995 against Germany in the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

. With France he finished 4th in the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and won bronze medals at the

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amalou, Eric 1968 births Living people French male handball players French handball coaches Expatriate handball coaches Olympic handball players for France Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics French people of Martiniquais descent People from Le Lamentin 20th-century French sportsmen French expatriate handball players in Germany French expatriate handball players French expatriate sportspeople in Italy