Nikola Karabatić (born 11 April 1984) is a French former professional

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor 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 thr ...

player. He is regarded as one of the greatest players in handball history. With the French national handball team, he won three Olympic gold medals (

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

), four

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

gold medals (

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

) as well as four gold medals in the European Championship (

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

). He also won L'Équipe Champion of Champions in 2011. He is regarded as one of the greatest players in handball history, and he was IHF World Player of the Year for a male record-tying three times, in 2007, 2014, and 2016. He was inducted into the EHF Hall of Fame in 2024.

Club career

Karabatić began his professional career at the top French club Montpellier HB. There he became French champion in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 as well as winner of the EHF Champions League in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. He then played for the German club

THW Kiel THW Kiel is a professional handball club from Kiel, Germany. Currently, they compete in the Handball-Bundesliga and are the record champion with 23 titles. 2007 and 2012 were the most successful years in the club's history, as THW completed t ...

, who became German champions in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, and won the EHF Champions League in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. In the summer of 2009 he left Germany and returned to Montpellier HB, winning three further French champion titles in 2010, 2011 and 2012. After a quick stay in Pays d'Aix Université Club handball, Aix-en-Provence, between February and June in 2013, he moved to

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

and then in 2015 and currently plays for PSG Handball.

International career

He is an Olympic, World and European champion. This makes eleven titles out of 17 medals won, which constitutes an absolute record. He first became a European champion in the 2006 European Men's Handball Championship, subsequently becoming a bronze medallist in the 2008 edition of the championship (without forgetting 2018). He has received two more bronze medals at the World Championships, in 2005 and 2019. At the 2007 World Men's Handball Championship, he was voted into the ''All-Star Team'' in which France finished fourth. He was also voted into the ''All Star Team'' at the

2004 European Men's Handball Championship The 2004 Men's European Handball Championship was the sixth edition of the tournament and took place from 22 January to 1 February 2004 in Slovenia in the cities of Ljubljana, Celje, Velenje and Koper. Venues Qualification :1 Bold indicates ...

Personal life

Karabatić was born in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, to a Croatian father and Serbian mother. Karabatić's father Branko Karabatić, who was also a professional handball player, is originally from Vrsine, a village between

Trogir Trogir () is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 10,107 (2021) and a total municipal population of 12,393 (2021). The historic part of the city is situated on a small island ...

and

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

in Croatia. In his career, Branko played for the Železničar handball team from

, which is where he met his wife Radmila, who is originally from

Aleksinac Aleksinac ( sr-Cyrl, Алексинац) is a town and municipality located in the Nišava District of Southern and Eastern Serbia, southern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 43,258 inhabitants. History Preh ...

, Serbia. The family moved to France after Karabatić's father got a coaching job there when Karabatić was years old. His younger brother, Luka, is also a professional handball player. On 30 September 2012, he was involved in match-fixing and was arrested alongside his wife and his brother Luka. In addition to French and

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

, he speaks English,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and Spanish.

Major tournament statistics

Achievements

Club

EHF Champions League The EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the men's com ...

: ** Winner in

** Runners up in

* IHF Super Globe:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

: 2007 * French league: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 * French cup: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2018, 2021, 2022 * French league cup: 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2018 * French supercup: 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2023 * German league: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 *

German cup The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English, is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundes ...

: 2007, 2008, 2009 * German supercup: 2005, 2007, 2008 * Spanish league: 2014, 2015 * Spanish cup: 2014, 2015 * Spanish supercup: 2013, 2014 * Asobal cup: 2013, 2014 * Catalonia Supercup: 2013, 2014 * Pyrenees league: 2004

International

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

** Gold:

** Silver:

** Gold:

** Silver:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

** Bronze:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

* European Championship ** Gold:

** Bronze:

* World Cup 2002 * Tournoi de France: 2007, 2011

Individual

* IHF World Player of the Year – Men ** Winner: 2007, 2014, 2016 ** Second: 2009, 2010, 2015 ** Third: 2011 * With French national team: ** Most Valuable Player (

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

) of the World Championship (2):

** Most Valuable Player (

) of the European Championship (2):

** Top Scorer of the European Championship:

** All-Star Centre back of the Olympic Games:

** All-Star Centre back of the World Championship:

** All-Star Centre back of the European Championship:

** All-Star Left back of the World Championship:

** All-Star Left back of the European Championship:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

** Best player of Tournoi de France: 2007, 2011 * With clubs: ** champions league *** Best striker: 2007 (89 goals) *** All-stars team: 2014 ** France *** Best player of French league: 2010, 2013, 2017 *** Best left back of French league: 2004, 2005 *** Best center back of French league: 2010, 2016, 2017 *** Best player of French supercup: 2010 ** Germany *** Best player of the year in Germany: 2007, 2008 *** Best player of the season in German league: 2006–07, 2007–08 *** Best left back in German league: 2006, 2007, 2008 *** Best player of German All-stars game: 2007 ** Spain *** Best player of Spanish league: 2014, 2015 * Others ** Sportsman on France: 2011 * EHF Hall of Fame in 2024.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Karabatic, Nikola 1984 births Living people French male handball players French people of Croatian descent French people of Serbian descent Serbian people of Croatian descent Handball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players for France Olympic gold medalists for France Sportspeople from Niš Montpellier Handball players Olympic medalists in handball Yugoslav emigrants to France Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics European champions for France Liga ASOBAL players FC Barcelona Handbol players THW Kiel players Handball-Bundesliga players French expatriate handball players in Germany French expatriate handball players in Spain Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for France Handball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Naturalized citizens of France Handball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Paris Saint-Germain Handball players 21st-century French sportsmen