Slobodan Nikić (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Слободан Никић; born 25 January 1983) is a Serbian professional

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player. He is currently

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

and he is a long-standing member of the

Serbia men's national water polo team The Serbia men's national water polo team represents Serbia in international men's water polo. It is considered to be one of the most successful men's water polo teams in the world, winning medals in all Olympic tournaments it has entered, i ...

. His most notable achievements with the national team are the gold medal from the Olympic Games in

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 ...

, silver from the Olympic Games in

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 ...

and bronze from the Olympic Games

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 ...

, three gold medals from the World Championships in

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 five gold medals from the European Championships 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 ...

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 ...

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 finally in

. He is one of the most decorated players in the history of water polo, and the only water polo player in the world to have won 3 FINA World Championship gold medals, an all-time record as of 2018. In his club career, his most important achievements are the

LEN Euroleague The European Aquatics Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A ...

and the LEN Supercup won in 2010 with

Pro Recco A.S.D. Pro Recco (Official name: Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Pro Recco) is an Italian professional water polo club from Recco, in Liguria. It currently plays in Serie A1. Pro Recco is the most successful club in men's water polo. In m ...

. Nikić is one of the most successful Serbian Olympians.

National career

2012 Samaridis Cup

From 9 to 11 January 2012. Nikić competed with his national team on the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

in the Samaridis Cup which was more a like preparation tournament for the upcoming 2012 European Championship held in

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

. He and his team-mates finished second behind the

Montenegrins Montenegrins (, or ) are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Montenegrins are mostly Orthodox Christians; however, the population also includes ...

on goal difference.

2012 Eindhoven

Nikić scored his first goal at the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

on 17 January against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in a second game which the

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

won by 13–12. On 19 January, in a third game of the tournament, Nikić scored his second goal in a difficult 15–12 victory against the defending European champions

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. On 21 January in the fourth match, Nikić scored his third goal of the tournament for his national team in a routine victory against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

14–5. On 29 January, Nikić won the European Championship with his

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

beating in the final

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

by 9–8. This was his third gold medal at the European Championships.

Honours

Club

;Olympiacos *

Greek Championship The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repl ...

: 2007, 2008, 2009 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 ;Pro Recco * Serie A1: 2009–10, 2010–11 *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

: 2009–10, 2010–11 *

: 2009–10 * LEN Supercup: 2010 ;Ferencváros *

LEN Euro Cup The European Aquatics Euro Cup is the second-tier European water polo club competition run by the European Aquatics for those clubs who did not qualify for the European Aquatics Champions League. The cup was inaugurated in 1992. From 2024, afte ...

: 2017–18 * Hungarian Championship ( OB I): 2018

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nikic, Slobodan 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Zrenjanin Serbia and Montenegro male water polo players Serbian male water polo players Water polo centre forwards Water polo players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic water polo players for Serbia and Montenegro Olympic silver medalists for Serbia and Montenegro Olympic gold medalists for Serbia in water polo Olympic bronze medalists for Serbia in water polo World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo European champions for Serbia and Montenegro European champions for Serbia Water polo players at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in water polo Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Serbia Olympiacos Water Polo Club players Serbian water polo coaches Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey European champions for Montenegro Serbian expatriate water polo players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in Greece European Water Polo Championship medalists 21st-century Serbian sportsmen